Boro Textiles

Japan's mended and patched textiles are referred to as boro, or ragged, both in Japan and abroad.

Boro t
extiles are usually sewn from nineteenth and early twentieth century rags and patches of indigo dyed cotton.  The diversity of patches on any given piece is a veritable encyclopedia of hand loomed cotton indigo from old Japan. In most cases, the beautiful arrangement of patches and mending stitches is borne of necessity and happenstance, and was not planned by the maker.

Imagine that boro textiles were stitched in the shadows of farmhouses, often at night by the light of one dim andon, on the laps of farm women. This unselfconscious creative process has yielded hand-made articles of soulful beauty, each of which calls upon to be recognized and admired as more than the utilitarian cloth they were intended to be.

A Beautifully Patched Length of Indigo Dyed Hemp or Ramie: Katazome

A Beautifully Patched Length of Indigo Dyed Hemp or Ramie: Katazome

late nineteenth century62 1/2" x 11 3/4", 159 cm x 30 cm ... (more)

A Pieced Hand Stitched Shikimono: Sleeping Mat or Under Futon

A Pieced Hand Stitched Shikimono: Sleeping Mat or Under Futon

early to mid twentieth century69 14" x 36 1/4", 176 cm x ... (more)

A Tall and Beautifully Patched Katazome Boro Cloth: Two Panels

A Tall and Beautifully Patched Katazome Boro Cloth: Two Panels

late nineteenth, early twentieth century66" x 25 1/2", 16... (more)

A Length of Tattered Patches on Katazome: Curious Shapes

A Length of Tattered Patches on Katazome: Curious Shapes

early twentieth century61 1/2" x 14 1/2", 156 cm x 37 cmT... (more)

A Length of Large Scale Indigo Dyed Plaid Cotton: Patched

A Length of Large Scale Indigo Dyed Plaid Cotton: Patched

late nineteenth, early twentieth century40 1/2" x 12 3/4"... (more)

A Long, Pieced Length of Patched Kasuri Cotton: Kasuri Warp and Weft

A Long, Pieced Length of Patched Kasuri Cotton: Kasuri Warp and Weft

early twentieth century73" x 12 1/2", 185.5 cm x 31 cm Th... (more)

A Patched and Pieced Large Narumi Kongata Cloth: Stencil Dyeing Mimicking Shibori

A Patched and Pieced Large Narumi Kongata Cloth: Stencil Dyeing Mimicking Shibori

early twentieth century51 1/4" x 26", 130.25 cm x 66 cm T... (more)

A Boro Length of Katazome Sampler Pieces: Indigo Dyed Cotton

A Boro Length of Katazome Sampler Pieces: Indigo Dyed Cotton

late nineteenth, early twentieth century77" x 13", 195.5 ... (more)

A Beautifully Mended Tsunobukuro: Horn Bag

A Beautifully Mended Tsunobukuro: Horn Bag

early to mid twentieth century49" x 15 1/2", 80 cm x 37 c... (more)

A Large, Square Kotatsugake: Hearth Cover of Recycled Cotton Kimono

A Large, Square Kotatsugake: Hearth Cover of Recycled Cotton Kimono

early to mid twentieth century61" x 62", 155 cm x 157.5 c... (more)

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