A Red and Coral Colored Cotton Boro Panel: Wonderful Color

early to mid twentieth century
39" x 24", 99 cm x 61 cm

This is a really charming, hand stitched boro cotton cloth which seems to have been taken from a kimono lining.  

The colors are wonderful: the hand loomed base cloth is a kind of dull, multi-hued salmon or coral orange/pink color.  This could or could not be dyed in benibana or safflower dye, but it appears to have been so.

The stitching is rustic and rough, and the area of cloth shown here has been stitched together from many pieces, so clearly scraps were collected to be joined together in order to fashion this lining.

Most striking, of course, is the cluster of vermilion, orange and yellowish patches which are positioned on the lower, left hand corner of this cloth: they are vibrant and they activate this entire piece with their luminosity.

An unusual and beautiful old cloth, and one with a quirky beauty.