A Length of Zanshi Ori: Kasuri Yarns and Deep Clear Indigo Tone

early twentieth century
25 3/4" x 13", 65.5 cm x 33 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth woven from threads that are 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 weft on this deeply colored length of indigo dyed cotton zanshi ori was woven from leftover kasuri yarns and if you look carefully you can see the barely emerging images appearing on the cloth; the warp yarns are fixed as stripes alternating between dark and light.

A really attractive length of old zanshi ori cotton.