A Finely Plied Stencil Dyed Furoshiki: Delicately Woven Cloth

kearly twentieth century
39" x 34", 99 cm x 86.5 cm

This is a furoshiki or a cloth that whose intended use was for the wrapping, storage of hauling of goods.

The very finely woven hemp or ramie cloth used to make this cloth suggests that it was produced for ceremonial purposes rather than every day use.

The pattern on the cloth is stenciled and it seems the pattern is stenciled directly onto the cloth rather than stencil resist dyed. The blue and black toned pattern is unevenly distributed over the surface of cloth which gives the furoshiki added visual appeal.

The design is comprised of what appear to be phoenix-like birds interspersed with diamond-shaped images that might be some form of family crest. There are faint, ghost-like impressions of the bird and diamond images that appear in places on the undyed areas of cloth, shown here on the detail photos that accompany this posts.

There is a stain to the bottom, center of the furoshiki, shown on the photos that are displayed here.

The quality of the finely woven cloth is lightweight and delicate and the rather good-sized furoshiki folds down to a small size.New@Sri

Wonderful and recommended.