ca. mid-Twentieth century
39 1/2" x 37", 100 cm x 94 cm

This is a beautiful textile with deep, luminous color and unusual and gorgeous passages of weaving. Zanshi is a kind of fabric that really speaks about utilitarian fabrics, hand loomed textiles, home weaving and the Japanese tendency to recycle.

Zanshi textiles are woven from the remaindered yarn from spools, which is knotted together in random selection, creating unusual fits and starts of color, pattern and value throughout the piece. In this stunning example of zanshi--which is a furoshiki, or wrapping cloth--the cotton indigo color is deep and rich, the weft yarn being remaindered and showing wonderful and unusual eddies and clusters of contrast to the warp.

The hand of this cloth is thick and stiff, and aside from some very slight distortion to the center of the furoshiki, the piece is in excellent condition.
The two opposite corners are stitched with some kind of personal identification.

A fabulous, beautiful textile, very reminiscent of old Japan.