A Very Beautiful Two Panel Boro: Pale Indigo and Tiny Patches

ca. late nineteenth century
73" x 25 1/4", 185.5 cm x 61.5 cm

This indigo dyed, two panel boro cloth is really, really beautiful in its simplicity, in its wonderful coloration and in its tremendously subtle patching--there are about 27 patches in all, some of them one-quarter the size of a postage stamp, and many of the patches are hand stitched along the extreme outer edges of the cloth.

The boro cloth is hand stitched from two panels of hand loomed cotton and the many patches are cut from a similarly dyed cloth as the base, the very close tonal play between patches and base cloth is just beautiful.  

Note especially the white cotton stitching which reinforces the center seam of this two panel boro: this "dot and dash" stitch is often seen on Japanese garments and cloth of all kinds and on this boro cloth it is particularly beautiful.

An unusually good boro cloth, and one whose beauty resides in its subtlety.