A Length of Indigo Dyed Cotton Zanshi Ori: Beautifully Faded Color and Pattern

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
64" x 13 1/2", 162.5 cm x 34 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; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen and this piece shows a fair number of these knotted slubs.

This piece is textbook zanshi ori: a variegated weft of amazingly subtle color tones of blues, greys and neutrals all in uneven, unregulated bands, most of them narrow.

The color and the subtlety of the length is hard to describe in photos and the ones accompanying this post unfortunately do not do the piece justice as the color tones are richer or more nuanced than shown here. This also applies to its texture which is beautifully hand woven.

This is very handsome and recommended for someone who likes zanshi ori or for someone wanting to collect or study it. There is overall fading and some surface abrasion which is not surprising given its age.

Very recommended.