A Length of Katazome Cotton: Complex Well Cover Pattern

early twentieth century
39" x 13", 99 cm x 33 cm

This length is of  fairly heavyweight cotton and is dyed in the katazome or stencil resist dyed method.

When newly made this cloth might have had a very pale blue background onto which the darker stencil resist dyed pattern was set.

There is some light fading to this length and on some areas some faint traces of pale blue can be seen in the "white" areas indicating originally this could have been a dark blue-on-pale blue pattern.

The repeat design is an abstract one based on an embellished grid whose center is a diagonally placed well cover motif, a well-used image in Japanese design.

A beautiful length with a sophisticated design and some light fading and noticeable wear, but not bad for its age.