A Short Length of Hand Spun Cotton Boro: Symmetrical Patching

late nineteenth century
37" x 13 1/2", 94 cm x 34.25 cm

This is a short length of very good, old, hand spun, hand woven, indigo dyed boro cotton.  Ito aji, or thread flavor, is something that connoisseurs of Japanese folk textiles talk about when discussing the virtues of old cloth, and this length of boro is rich in ito aji due to its hand made qualities.

The dye is a good blue and there are four patches which are hand stitched to the cloth in a somewhat symmetrical manner as they are positioned close to the two selvedge edges.  There is one bright spot of missing dye seen on the lower quarter of this cloth and shown in the accompanying photos.

A nice looking boro cloth with good age.