author
Walter Davis Baker
1873–1929
A textile artist and teacher from Indianapolis, he co-wrote an early practical guide to batik that helped introduce readers to pattern dyeing and wax-resist techniques. His work reflects the hands-on spirit of early 20th-century art education.
1 Audiobook
Batik and other pattern dyeing
by Walter Davis Baker, Ida Strawn Baker
About the author
Walter Davis Baker (1873–1929) is best known as the co-author, with Ida Strawn Baker, of Batik and Other Pattern Dyeing, published in 1920. The book presents batik as both a craft and a teaching method, with clear attention to design, materials, and classroom use.
The title page identifies Walter and Ida Strawn Baker with the Waldcraft Studios in Indianapolis, Indiana, which places him in an active arts-and-crafts setting rather than only a literary one. The surviving record available here points mainly to this book, so the safest picture is of an author closely connected to textile work, design instruction, and the spread of decorative dyeing techniques to students and makers.
Although not a widely documented public figure today, his name continues to circulate through digital editions and library records of Batik and Other Pattern Dyeing. That lasting interest comes from the book’s practical approach and its glimpse into how batik was taught and adapted for American readers in the early 1900s.