A Panel and a Half of Zanshi ori: Leftover Yarns

ca. early twentieth century
63" x 18", 160 cm x 45.5 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.

This length of cloth is one-and-a-half loom width, the two pieces hand stitched together.  What is lovely about seeing these two pieces joined together--they are presumably cut from the same bolt-- is to view how the coloration and horizontal striping of the zanshi ori can change along the length of a cloth.  The random weft yarns create this unexpected progression of coloration.

In very good condition, this hand woven length of cloth is extremely handsome in design and coloration.