ca. mid to late nineteenth century
22 1/2" x 25 1/2", 57 cm x 65 cm

This 19th century zabuton (seating cushion) is sewn from a stencil printed cover woven from tsumugi or raw silk; the back is woven from hand spun cotton and is printed in an Indian-inspired pattern known in Japan as wa-sarasa. Sarasa is the Japanese term for Indian export cloth which was extremely popular with Japan's upper-echelon in the late Edo Period.  Wa-sarasa is a Japanese development created to fill a demand for the very pricey and highly collected Indian cloth, which wasmost always of extremely fine cotton which was  block printed and hand painted.

The beautiful silk cover shows a repeat pattern of interlocking circles and butterflies.  The techinque used to achieve this pattern is called surikomi, whereby pigment was brushed directly onto cloth through stencils.  Note the wonderful, slubby texture of the raw, hand spun silk and the mendings and wear to the cover, shown in detail photos.

The wa-sarasa back is extremely subtle, and, again, look at the rich texture of the hand spun cotton.  Notice the print is two motives shown in halves on a diagonal: the proper left or top half is an arabesque motive, the right or lower half is a Mughal-inspired flower motif.

The zabuton still retains its original padding, however the years have flattened the stuffing to practically nothing.  Many Japanese zabuton are very thinly padded to begin with, as this one was when first made.

This is wonderfully earthy textile and very much calls up the flavor of 19th century Japan.

Very recommended.