A Very Good Layered Boro Sitting Mat: Chaotic Sashiko Stitched

ca. early to mid twentieth century
27" x 29", 68.5 cm x 73.5 cm

This relatively small, very heavily sashiko stitched boro mat is composed of layers of cloth and is exceptionally alluring in its random patching, its gradient blues and its eccentric stitching.

Because this piece is heavy with layers, it seems that was some kind of sitting mat--an un-stuffed zabuton or something of the like.

It is a truly wonderful thing for its intensity of stitches, which meander and then pool up in undefined areas--certainly the areas of most stitching are where the maker felt the cloth was most vulnerable.

The proper front has a great deal of this exciting, free-form stitching while the proper back shows a fairly rigid grid of white stitches.  

This boro cloth is pieced from many stitches and is a simply beautiful example of an old boro textile.

Highly recommended.