A Length of Beautifully Colored Patched Zanshi ori: Leftover Yarn Weaving

early twentieth century
60" x 13", 152.5 cm x 33 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth that is woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers. 

Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen--the back of this piece shows a fair number of these knotted slubs.

This piece is a wonderful, better-than-most example of zanshi ori for its wonderful color combination, its delicate-yet-intense-patterning and, of course, its nice patching.

The weaving is fairly lightweight and there are many types of cotton yarn that feed the weft, including some kasuri yarns which give a variegated appearance.

This is a very handsome length of zanshi ori or for someone wanting to collect or study it.

Recommended.