A Fabulous Length of Cotton Kasuri: Repeated Well Cover Motif

ca. late nineteenth, early twentieth century
74" x 13", 188 cm x 13 cm

Sometimes when you see an old, Japanese textile it is hard not to stop in your tracks and think, "wow."  Such is the case with this beautifully graphic length of indigo dyed cotton kasuri cloth that shows a repeat pattern of the traditional well cover or well crib motif called igeta.

Along the length of the hand woven cotton cloth are 18 well cribs, two rows of nine each.  Their stark white forms against the deep blue indigo background is just fantastic, as is the scale of each of igeta to each other and to the size of the cloth.  The visual interest is obvious, and rich.

There is some extremely faint staining to the cloth--barely noticeable--and there is a small notch of cotton missing from the bottom right corner, as can be seen in the accompanying photograph.  Note as well the two patches to the back side of the piece.

Otherwise this is a sensational country textile and one that is recommended.