A Length of Tightly Woven, Very Slubby Zanshi Ori: Leftover Yarns

early twentieth century
76" x 13 3/4", 193 cm x 35 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth that is 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--the back of this piece shows a fair number of these knotted slubs.

This piece is a wonderful, better-than-most example of zanshi ori: a super variegated weft with a fixed warp, the color variation being nice and tight within a narrow spectrum of neutrals. The weaving is heavy and there are an uncountable number of slubs which is evidence of the random yarns being knotted together.

This is a very handsome length of zanshi ori or for someone wanting to collect or study it.

Recommended.