An Artfully Arranged Boro Textile: Three Panels

early twentieth century
35" x 39 1/2", 89 cm x 100.5 cm

This handsomely artful boro cloth is composed of three panels of hand woven, dark toned cotton, presumably recycled from everyday kimono.

Thick white sashiko thread is used on the vertical seams and on the mending to the lower-left hand portion of the cloth: the jiggly oval shape rendered by the white thread is a wonderful visual counterpoint to the clustered patches on the right-hand side panel.

This is an easy piece to admire. It contains a good variety of visually interesting details that were all in the service of extending the life of what was a humble, every day cloth used in the home.

A small beauty.