A Zokin: Diamonds and Subtle Patch

mid twentieth century
12 3/4" x 13 1/2", 32.5 cm x 34.25 cm

A zokin is a traditional Japanese dust cloth or cleaning rag; it is usually made from old pieces of cloth and it is usually layered and stitched for durability.   

Along with diapers, zokin are among the traditional household textiles that represent the end of the line where the repurposing or recycling of cloth is concerned.

This beautifully stitched zokin is a few layers thick and it shows a very beautiful and quite regular all-over diamond pattern of stitching: there is one very subtle patch on the front of the piece that has been stitched over by this lattice of stitching.

A beautiful zokin.