A Length of Handsome Zanshi ori Cotton: Stripes

early twentieth century
59 3/4" x 13 7/8", 152 cm x 35.25 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth that is woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers. 

Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen--the back of this piece shows a fair number of these knotted slubs.

This piece is a beautiful example of zanshi ori as it shows a striped warp with stray, leftover weft yarns at the top of the length and a stripe of leftover yarns in the center. You can see there is a small hole to the center of the piece, too.

This is very handsome with good color and with good random weaving-- and it is recommended for someone who likes zanshi ori or for someone wanting to collect or study it.