A Collection of Slivers of 19th Century Cotton: Shimacho Fragments

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
each sliver, approximately: 1/2" x 2", 1.25 cm x 5 cm

This is a group of small slivers of hand woven cotton cloth that has been collected over the years. They have fallen out of or have been culled from destroyed shimacho or hand made albums that show a collection of hand weaving.

These small fragments are all rather somber in tone and in design, many of them are very narrow stripes or small checks, most are cotton. You will notice some white "blooming" on some of the fragments--this is residual rice paste used to affix the fragment to the page.

An interesting little heap of old cloth for study, or if you are ambitious, you can recreate a shimacho--or use these in artwork.