This luxurious volume is the first to focus exclusively on resist dyeing as an art form. It brings together superb examples from cultures on every continent, and includes the work of many contemporary artist-craftsmen. The extraordinary story of the discovery, development, trade, and importance of these age-old techniques is sensitively told, with keen insights into the relationship of historic and tribal styles to the achievements of the modern dyer. Sumptuously illustrated throughout - including 90 magnificent full-color photographs - the book is literally a museum of the dyer's art throughout the ages. Many of the hundreds of photographs - including those of the world's oldest extant resistdyed fabric - are published here for the first time. The authors present resist dyeing in its many ramifications, with full discussion and documentation of ikat (fabrics woven from resist-dyed fabrics), plangi (tie-dye, fold-dye, and stitch-dye fabrics), and batik (fabrics patterned by the application of liquefied wax, paste, starch or other substances to resist dye). Displayed are the classic batiks of Java, West Africa and the Congo, along with the great ikats of Turkistan, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and many others. Although history, style, and technique are thoroughly analyzed, the emphasis is always on aesthetics and ingenuity.