A Length of Itajime Dyed Cotton: Cherry Blossoms and Tachibana

early twentieth century
23 3/4" x 12 3/4", 60 cm x 32.5 cm

This length of lightweight cotton is dyed in the itajime method, a resist dye technique which uses carved boards and applied pressure to resist the cloth in order to produce patterns.  

This particular fragment of cloth shows a section of the repeat pattern in mirror image, the components of the pattern are cherry blossoms and tachibana, a kind of Mandarin orange.  

The length is light faded and shows some stray areas of blue and pink dye that have found themselves onto the design whether by intention or happenstance and there is also a faint stain in the middle of the fragment which is much easier seen on the photos here than in person where it is hardly noticeable.

A lovely and collectible length of resist dyed cotton.