A Long Piece of Hand Woven Kaya: Overdyed Indigo

ca. early twentieth century
177" x 13", 4.49 m x 33 cm

This is a wonderful--and quite long-- length of rustic, over dyed indigo dyed hemp cloth.  This is a kaya, or mosquito netting, hence the relatively open weave of the cloth.  The cloth is finished at both of its two ends.

The color is a beautiful, warm green that was achieved by first dyeing the length in indigo, then overdyeing it in a yellow dyestuff.  In most probability, both the indigo and yellow dyes are naturally derived.  The hemp yarns are wiry and rustic, and that said, the dye did not evenly drink into the yarns which lends a very slightly variegated green tone.

This is a lovely length of cloth that shows a light patina and some subtle pulls and tugs at the cloth from wear, but overall it in good shape.