A Length of Katazome Dyed Boro Cloth: Hand Spun Yarns

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
71" x 13", 180.5 cm x 33 cm

This is a beautiful length of hand spun, hand woven, indigo dyed katazome cotton. It is dyed in what could be called a "classic" bedding pattern which was used in old Japan, that is, stylized chrysanthemums amid a field of arabesque.  The ground color is a beautiful pale blue and the design is dyed a medium-to-dark indigo tone.

In old Japan, large-scale patterns such as this were imprinted onto cloth to be used in the home as futon covers--such a "flashy," bold pattern would not have been allowed to be worn as a garment during the Edo period, a time when sumptuary laws governed what people could and could not wear, consume or manufacture.  These large-repeat patterns were developed to be used in the home and continued to be dyed onto cloth well into the early twentieth century.

This lovely example has the added beauty of its four hand stitched patches, each of indigo dyed cotton and each showing very good stitching.  The length is lightly starched.

A really lovely piece of cotton from another era.