A Very Thick and Heavy Boro Textile: Maekake or Apron Patch

mid twentieth century
52" x 47", 132 cm x 119.5 cm

This wonderful mish-mash of old cotton cloth and wild sashiko stitching is delightful to look at, and it is also a substantial textile in that it is many, many layers thick and is very heavy in weight: it has more the weight of a rug than, say, a bedcover.  Multiple layers of recycled cloth were stacked and stitched together to create this exuberantly constructed boro textile.

Of note is the large, blue-and-white piece shown in dead center of this boro cloth.  This is a maekake or a traditional apron worn by employees at businesses, and seeing an entire apron applied to the surface of this cloth is really charming.  But have a look at the many detail photos attached to this post to see the wonderful, off-beat sashiko stitching that was used to hold together the many scraps of cloth that were assembled to compose this heavy boro textile which may or may not have been used as a kotatsugake or a hearth cover.

Each of the two sides is interesting for the scraps of cloth used in its making as well as for the stitching.  Please do note some abrasion to the surface and some slight loss to some of the fragments of cloth.

An unusual, beautiful cloth from mid-last century.

Recommended.