A Length of Over Dyed Tsutstugaki Cotton: Tea Ceremony Implements

late nineteenth century
54" x 13", 137 cm x 33 cm

This is a length of green, blue and white colored hand spun, hand woven cotton cloth that has been dyed in the tsutsugaki method.

The cotton is wonderfully rustic and is exactly as you would want to see when assessing quality on a Japanese folk textile: hand spun cotton is desirable.

The blue and green colors come from indigo being resisted and over dyed in a yellow dyestuff: here we see some selected areas that have been left as blue while most of the cloth shows a nice, faded green tone.

The images are lovely and have to do with the traditional tea ceremony.

On it we see a bamboo tea whisk, half a water pot and a folding fan which is decorated with the Buddhist flaming pearl image. All of the pictures on the length are lovely and each is beautifully drawn with strong, clean lines.

A curious trio of images on a nice old length of cotton, this tsutsugaki panel is a delight for the eyes.

Recommended.