A Richly Colored Plaid Cotton Length: Indigo Dye

ca. late nineteenth, early twentieth century
60" x 13 3/4",  152.5 cm x 35 cm

This length of richly colored plaid cloth is taken from a futon cover.  It shows an elaborately designed plaid wherein the warp and weft patterns are identical and intersect to form a complex design.

There are two tones of indigo, a dark tone and a paler, sky-blue tone.  The coral-red color is no doubt the result of dyeing with safflower or benibana, and this combination of red and blue in this combination is a bit unusual for a folk textile.

Just a bit of light fading and a few, unnoticeable pinprick-sized holes, this hand woven cotton is of good weight and in very good, used condition.