A Length of Indigo Dyed Stenciled Cotton: Iron Oxide Derived Pigment Dye

late nineteenth century
45" x 13", 114.25 cm x 33 cm

This is a really good example of a wonderful kind of stencil dyed cotton which shows an  indigo dyed base onto which has been stenciled a pattern of red-colored pigment dye derived from iron oxide (bengara in Japanese).

The cloth is hand woven from hand spun cotton yarns and the fading, wear and abrasion that have affected this length over time beautifully show the luscious texture of the hand spun cotton yarns.

The red overlaid pattern is in slight color contrast to the base, but just barely. The red is fairly the same tonal value as the blue making for a low-contrast design with appealing optical effect.

The pattern shown is that of two distinct styles of(perhaps) abstracted chrysanthemums each placed within the frame of an octagon. Interspersed between the octagons is a square with diamond flowers inside.

A gorgeous example of this type of old stenciled cloth showing bengara dye.