# Shoulder Cloth (Selendang)

- By: Indonesia, Central Java
- Date: Late 19th century
- Medium: Cotton, plain weave; hand-drawn wax resist dyed (batik tulis)
- Classification: Textile
- Dimensions: 256.6 × 52 cm (101 × 20 1/2 in.)
- Culture: Java
- Credit line: Gift of Guy H. Mitchell
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27481)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/db2d5d38-bbb6-f89a-107a-4ee592be2824/full/843,/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A shoulder cloth is a long, narrow cloth worn by women over the shoulder as a shawl or to carry a baby or market goods. This fine example was produced within the palace compound of a central Javanese court. Classic colors have been employed—blue, white or cream, and the soga reddish brown—and the major motifs of birds and paired Garuda wings have been symmetrically arranged on the field in an almost heraldic way.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0