A Beautifully Colored and Designed Sakiori Obi: Rag Woven Kimono Sash

mid twentieth century
86" x 5 1/2", 218.5 cm x 14 cm

This is a nicely colored and woven wide sakiori obi, or a traditional kimono sash that is woven using shredded cloth as its weft yarn. It is a bit shorter than most sakiori obi by about 24" or 60 cm.

The cotton warp yarns on this obi are light in color.  The weft yarns--thin, shredded rags--are shades of grey, pink and other mottled tones. The grey passages on this obi were hard to capture in photographs and they are a kind of "pure," medium-tone grey which provides a nice element to the obi and is rather rare overall.

This hand woven sakiori obi is in very good condition, with no visible holes or stains, and it is a very handsome example of a traditional, sakiori weaving.

A beautifully colored, beautifully woven folk textile.