A Length of Jishiro Katazome Narumi Kongata: Delicately Complex Design

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
25" x 13", 63.5 cm x 33 cm

Narumi kongata is a beautiful type of complex stencil resist dyed cloth. Narumi kongata dyeing utilizes a set of stencils which, when used in combination and in a specific order, yields a length of cloth that mimics the look of soft-edged shibori.

Here we see a short length of very good quality indigo dyed cotton Narumi kongata that  is dyed in the jishiro style, that is to say it is a blue-on-white pattern. Jishiro or blue-on-white dyeing is more difficult to achieve than the more regularly-seen white-on-blue pattern and therefore it is desirable.

The dyed design is delicate and delightful. It shows a repeat pattern of six-pointed star shapes, each of which is filled with a finely drawn design. On some it is a section of bamboo and its leaves while on others it is a pattern of hexagons and flowers. Plum blossoms and stippling fill the background with some of the plum blossoms giving the illusion of being dyed in the miura shibori technique.

The condition of this length is good and used, the white background is still very bright and the blues are deep and rich in color and tone.

Just beautiful.