A Good Sized Length of Indian Inspired Katazome: Beautiful Hand Spun Cotton Yarns
mid to late 19th century
52" x 13 1/2", 132 cm x 34 cm
The beauty of this length of complex patterned, indigo dyed katazome cotton rests not just in its intricate, vaguely Indian-inspired pattern but also for the luscious hand spun cotton yarns that were used to weave this length of old cloth.
The pattern itself is a faded repeat of fantasy flowers, the kind you might find on Indian or Persian cloth, but re-imagined in a Japanese sort of way.
The colors are white, indigo blue, grey and black: the latter two color tones add a good amount of richness to the cloth. The loss of detail on some of the lighter areas of the design is due, of course, to light fading and to washing and wear, but overall the look of the piece is good. The indigo color is a lovely, warm, middle tone: very attractive.
There is a small area of faint staining which is shown on the second photo in the set attached here and overall it is quite unobtrusive when considering the piece from a distance and on the whole.
The pattern is somewhat exotic and it references the Japanese interest in foreign cloth and their curiosity and esteem for the export cloth of India.
Beautiful.