ca. early to mid twentieth century
42" x 13", 106.5 cm x 33 cm

This elegant, dark green cotton cloth is a fragment from a furoshiki, a traditional, Japanese wrapping cloth.

This particular piece of cloth is resist-dyed using the katazome method, where rice paste is applied to cloth through a stencil, in this way the rice paste blocks the penetration of dye, keeping the cloth its original white color.

This hand woven cotton cloth was dyed twice, once in indigo, then in a yellow dye--probably derived from tree bark--and this double dyeing yielded the lovely green color we see here.

Really lovely, this piece invites multiple uses, from being displayed as a home accessory or being used in an art project.