A Northern Shibori Baby Sling: Ingrained Creases from Wear

early twentieth century
76" x 9 1/4", 193 cm x 23.5 cm

This is quite a good sized length of northern Japanese shibori cotton, coming from the Tohoku or Japan's rural northeast region. The cloth is pleated laterally from wear as it was used to carry a baby.

The pattern is bold and graphic and, characteristic of northern shibori, the indigo is deep in color which offsets the wonderful, resist dyed design. Dyed on this length are images of ivy, plum blossoms and the "comma-like" design called tomoe.

By looking closely at the detail photos provided here you will notice there are still some thick, white cotton threads which were not plucked out of the shibori design when finishing the cloth.

The undyed areas are not bright white and, as mentioned, the cloth is naturally pleated from wear.

This is a beautiful length of old shibori dyed cotton with a strong visual presence and a very handsome pattern.

Recommended.