A Length of Rustic Tsutsugaki: Shaky Lines
early twentieth century
59" x 13", 150 cm x 33 cm
This is a funny length of indigo dyed tsutsugaki cotton: it is funny for its amateurish look--the unsure lines and the mistakes in drawing.
Why is this tsutsugaki like this? Was it made by an apprentice? Was it made by a very old artist whose age stole former skills?
We will never know but there is something charming in this rustic portrayal of stylized flowers and the tangled arabesque that is its foil.
Note how on one area a stem or arabesque is meant to pass behind or in front of another yet the linear rendering ignores this: clearly this is a mistake but it is also what makes good folk art.
The indigo is of a very deep, rich blue. The design is strangely beautiful.
A lovely length of folk tsutsugaki dyeing.