A Length of Blue-on-White Narumi Kongata: Visible Repeat

early twentieth century
44 1/2" x 13 1/2", 113 cm x 34 cm

This is a length of blue-on-white katazome cotton that has been dyed in a multi-stenciled resist dyeing process referred to as Narumi kongata. The feature of this multi stenciled resist dyeing process is to mimic the look of shibori by creating images with the kind of soft edges that naturally appear in the tie dyeing technique.

This particular length is complex in its design and beautiful in its execution. We see a field of folding fans each bearing a painted image, clusters of plants and shibori-like images in indigo blue, one of the most prominent ones being the disc-shaped snowflake, 

An interesting feature of this length is that, unlike most katazome cloth whose patterns are seamless, this one is different in that it is easy to see each repeat. Additionally please note the presence of two faint stains, each one shown here on its own detail photo.

This is a luxurious length of cloth with a complex dyeing technique that is delicate and very appealing to look at.

Recommended.