A Length of Zanshi ori: Leftover Yarn Weaving with Stripes of Kasuri Warp

early twentieth century
34" x 13", 86.5 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 as is the case here.

The undyed areas of this length are slightly dulled from age and wear--and what we can see in the center of the bold, indigo stripes is a narrow strip of recycled kasuri yarns which adds to the visual appeal.

The unevenly spaced weft-based stripes is due to the leftover yarns being randomly fed in the weft, and this is a hallmark of zanshi ori.

This particular length shows all the strengths of zanshi ori: a strong presence of leftover yarns, good indigo color and lots of knots and slubs.

A classic.