A Length of Indigo Dyed Weft Based Kasuri: Bamboo

early twentieth century
59" x 13", 150 cm x 33 cm

This is a length of hand woven, indigo dyed cotton that shows a repeat pattern of three, large-scale sections of bamboo which are simply rendered and alternate in direction or orientation from one another. The depiction of the bamboo section and its leaves is rustic and simplistic.

The technique used to create these images is kasuri or ikat and to make images or patterns in this technique yarns are resisted before they are woven so when they are woven an image or design appears. In this case only the weft yarns were resist dyed before they were woven.

The contrast between the indigo toned background and the image is low and the images are rudimentary in their drawing.

Bamboo is a symbol of resiliency in Japan because it bends but never breaks.

Note the hole to one of the bamboo images, shown in a detail photo here.