ca. early to mid twentieth century
64" x 56", 162.5 cm x 142.25 cm
This is a dramatic and large tsutsugaki dyed furoshiki, a traditional Japanese wrapping and carrying cloth.
The indigo is dyed in two tones, a rich, pale blue and deep, velvety navy blue. The centerpiece of this cloth is a hand drawn family crest or kamon, in this case mokko or so-called "melon" which is situated under a stylized roof form.
In the lower, right hand corner is a pair of complex, multi ...click for details
ca. late nineteenth century
65" x 13 1/4", 165 cm x 33.5 cm
This is a really marvelous, old boro fragment. It is a panel taken from a futon cover.
What makes this panel better than most, or perhaps more interesting, is its age, the beauty of its fading and wear, the quality of its threads, and the layers of cloth which comprise it.
On this webshop we have often spoken of the soulfulness of old cloth and the ito aji or thread taste which is its root. This length of cloth is ...click for details
ca. early twentieth century
51" x 51", 129.5 cm x 129.5 cm
This is a really interesting, indigo dyed cotton sashiko furoshiki, or a tradtional wrapping cloth that has been hand stitched using white threads. Please know that unlike what the accompanying photos depict, the sashiko stitching is bright white, not as it appears in photos.
In all ways it appears to be a traditional Japanese sashiko stitched furoshiki: it is made of hand loomed cotton, it is indigo dyed, each of its c ...click for details
ca. late nineteenth, early twentieth century
15 3/4" x 11", 40 cm x 28 cm
This "booklet" is composed of thirty leaves of tissue weight paper that have been bound together by two simple bindings on one of the short ends of the group of paper.
This assortment of thirty fabulous hand drawn and hand colored designs comes from a textile design studio in Kyoto, and is said to date to the Meiji Era (1868-1912).
Each page shows an individual repeat design rendered in a rust ...click for details
ca. late nineteenth century
38" x 38", 96.5 cm x 96.5 cm
This very handsome and subtle indigo dyed cotton furoshiki is more complex than meets the eye. Its color is a warm, rich blue and its cotton yarns are hand spun--of course the cloth is hand woven.
The furoshiki, or a traditional wrapping/carrying cloth, is hand stitched from five separate pieces of cotton which were repurposed, presumably from a kimono. On to this surface are hand stitched three patches and in the proper ...click for details
ca. late nineteenth, early twentieth century
38" x 24", 96.5 cm x 61 cm
This mat of indigo dyed shibori and katazome cottons is something of a masterwork of random, haphazard and, perhaps unintentional, beauty.
The base cloth of hand spun, hand woven shibori dyed cotton is just stunning: it is a complex pattern of nui or stitched shibori based on the fundo tsunagi or a stylized repeat of a counterweight design. The way the shibori is dyed--mottled, contrasting--makes the surfac ...click for details
ca. mid twentieth century
47 1/2" x 46", 120.5 cm x 117 cm
This really beautiful cloth is composed of four panels of finely striped cotton that were once kimono: they were hand stitched together and the entire area was sashiko stitched using white, cotton thread, first in a grid pattern and then diagonals. Just fantastic.
This was likely one cover that would have been used on top of a kotatsu, a kind of heated table that was covered in blankets, the purpose of which was for the ...click for details
ca. mid twentieth century
8" x 7" x 7", 20 cm x 17.5 cm x 17.5 cm
This lovely drawstring bag is sewn from about 18 pieces of old, hand loomed Japanese cottons. What one notices first about this piece is the hand stitched name, Zensuke, on the front of the bag. The appeal is immediate--and graphic, and the katakana characters are rendered beautifully in white sashiko thread.
The bag is of a nice size and is in very good condition. The drawstring seems original to the bag, ...click for details
ca. early to mid twentieth century
34 1/2" x 30 1/2", 87.5 cm x 77.5 cm
This lovely, indigo dyed cotton boro mat is constructed of about four layers of cloth which give this square-shaped textile some body.
It is hand stitched from repurposed, indigo dyed cotton in varying hues and grades of blue, and the cloth is "divided" into twelve rectangle shaped zones, each being demarcated by long, white cotton sashiko stitches.
On one side is an interesting, elliptical re ...click for details
ca. late nineteenth century
72" x 25", 183 cm x 63.5 cm
This is a magnificently beautiful and richly patched two panel, indigo dyed cotton boro textile: simply stunning.
The field is a katazome or stencil resist dyed cotton cloth that shows a traditional pattern of chrysanthemums and karakusa, a Japanese form of arabesque. On the "wrong" side of the cloth, which we are highlighting here, you see the ghost image of the katazome pattern which read much clearer on the pr ...click for details
