A Length of Patched Zanshi ori: Leftover Yarn Weaving

early twentieth century
69" x 13 3/4", 175.25 cm x 34.9 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth 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 while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen.

This length is interesting because you can see that kasuri yarns have been used in both the warp and the weft creating a kind of "white noise" plaid.

The overall tone of this length is dark and somber and the color changes very slightly with hardly-contrasting modalities over the length of the cloth. The mending patches which create a visual break in the length are a lovely addition.

This is a very handsome length of cotton zanshi ori.