A Thickly Woven Sakiori Panel: Ragweave Fragment

ca. mid twentieth century
55" x 14 1/4", 139.5 cm x 36 cm 

This is a lovely, beautifully worn and slightly faded length of sakiori, a kind of weaving that uses shredded cloth for its weft yarn; sakiori is the Japanese word for rag woven textiles.

The warp yarns are of two colors, indigo and orange, and each color warp yarn is set across the width of surface of the cloth in even spacing.  The weft is entirely of cotton rag of orange, mottled white and mottled grey/brown 

Note that the short ends are on the verge of unraveling a bit although, if handled sensibly, it should be stable.  

Most likely this sakiori panel is taken from a kotatsugake or hearth cover, and it shows some light wear, some slightly bleeding pink tones, and a bit of very superficial soiling on one side of the panel.

Beautiful and unusually colored, and in good, used condition.

Recommended.