A Tsutsugaki Zokin: Hand Resisted Noshi

ca. mid twentieth century
9 1/2" x 13 1/4", 24 cm x 33.5 cm

Zokin are traditional Japanese dustrags which are almost always made from layered and sashiko stitched scraps of cloth.

This is a very handsome zokin which is sewn from recycled tsutsugaki dyed cotton cloth, probably about two layers in all.  The tsutsugaki cloth, probably made in the late 19th century, shows a fragment of a traditional, celebratory motif, the auspicious dried abalone called noshi.

Graphic and appealing, with a good fragment of old tsutsugaki cloth.