A Long and Faded Katazome Length: Shochikubai

reduced from $125.00
ca. late nineteenth, early twentieth century
80" x 13 3/4", 203.25 cm x 35 cm

This is a beautiful--and quite long--length of lightweight cotton that has been dyed in the katazome or stencil resist method.  It is beautiful.

The overall pattern is delicate and lyrical--and it is jam packed with auspicious significance as it shows the traditional pine, bamboo and plum motif called shochikubai.  Shochikubai, is the design triad of bamboo, pine and plum blossoms, which conveys good wishes.  Plum shows courage as its blossoms, the first of the year, burst forth from under ice, the bamboo is resilience since it bends but does not break and the pine is a symbol of long life and also of a faithful marriage as its needles fall in pairs.

The indigo is worn and faded in blocks along this length as can be seen in accompanying photographs.  But it is the swirling, delicate and complex arrangement of the shochikubai motif against the whirling arabesque background that is the core of its delicate beauty.

Really lovely.