Presented in this volume are about 200 of the best pieces of batik pesisir or coastal batik textiles from the collection of Hartono Sumarsono, pieces dating from 1870 to the 1960s, the Golden Age of hand-painted batik. The textiles presented here include one that carries a motif taken from the ancient Arjuna Wiwaha Hindu-Javanese epic, made by C.M. Meyer in 1870; a Lasem bedspread dating from the beginning of the last century; Several batik Pekalongan pieces made by Oey Soe Tjoen Kwee Nettie, who has known for the finesse of her work; several batik Belanda (Dutch batik) made by the widely renowned makers Lien Metzelaar and Eliza van Zuylen; and several batik Hokokai pieces dating from the time of the Japanese occupation. Also to be found are batik textiles that are representative of the Kudus, Bnayumas, Cirebon, Madura, Garut and other areas, as well as a few baby carrying slings and Indo-Dutch-inspired articles of daily leisure wear.

This volume briefly relates the growth and development of batik in various places along Java's north coast - an area which the scholar and researcher Peter Carey has described as a melting pot of peoples and cultures coming from India, China, Arabia and Europe as well as from the various regions of Indonesia itself, producing an interaction that gave birth to this fine beautiful art form.