A Rustic Patched Boro Fragment: Two Good Sides
late nineteenth century
36" x 18 1/2", 91.5 cm x 47 cm
This is a really attractive boro panel which was cut from a larger piece--and unlike some boro pieces, this one is equally attractive on both sides, front and back.
It is thick with patches of fairly regular size, the predominant color being a kind of muted, dark brown due to the narrow striped brown, grey and blue cottons which were hand stitched together to create this length. The texture from all this hand stitching is wonderful.
The reverse of the cloth is also beautiful, but shows a completely different character. The predominant feature on the back is a fairly large square of very faded and torn piece of katazome cloth which shows a repeat pattern of small chrysanthemums shown in a repeated, delicate vertical placement.
A rustic beauty, to be sure, but one that has a lot of visual and textural interest.
Beautiful, and with good age.