A Sashiko Stitched Boro Furoshiki: Yarn Dyed Cloth

mid twentieth century
52" x 51", 132 cm x 129.5 cm

This beautiful, low-contrast boro textile is a furoshiki which is a traditional wrapping/hauling/storing cloth.  This one is of good size and as can be seen from the distended or misshapen center part, it has been used for carrying items during its lifetime as a utilitarian textile.

Its pale, blue-grey color is the result of it being woven from a white warp against which is fed a dark blue indigo weft: often in the case of sashiko stitched furoshiki, the cotton is piece dyed in indigo, resulting in an overall, dark blue color.

There are about a dozen mending patches which dot the surface of this cloth; in two opposing corners there are white colored sashiko stitched kanji or Chinese characters.  As well, white sashiko stitching runs along the right and left sides of the cloth.

A really lovely, traditional textile.