A Length of Indigo Dyed Katazome Cotton: Mottled Blues

early twentieth century
43 1/2" x 14", 110.5 cm x 35.5 cm

This is a length of indigo dyed cotton katazome cloth that shows a repeat pattern of what appears to be some kind of highly stylized and re-imaged peony set against a background of fragments of arabesque.

The length is of tone-on-tone blues, a pale blue ascribed to the images and a deep blue filling in the background.

The images show a bit of crackling to the blue tone, presumably dye seeping under the rice paste that was meant to fully resist the dye but did not. The effect, intentional or not, is charming.

The length is in good, used condition; the pale blue areas show a slight yellow cast in certain light, but this is faint and not of great visual concern.

This is a lovely length of old katazome cotton and one with an unusual pattern, beautifully realized.