A Length of Large Scale Katazome Cotton: Curious Repair

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
33 1/2" x 12 1/2", 85 cm x 31.5 cm

This is a length of indigo dyed katazome cotton, the cotton is hand woven from hand spun cotton yarns.

The large scale repeat pattern is interesting for its symbolism as well as its graphic design. The pattern is made up of interlocking hexagons, each one containing the image of a plum blossom--and plum blossoms also appear at all the corners of the hexagons.

The hexagon shape is a shorthand way of depicting tortoise shell and the reason for depicting tortoise shell is to conjur the image of the tortoise which is an auspicious symbol that means long life.

Likewise the plum blossom is an auspicious design that shows courage. Plum blossoms are the first to bloom in winter and to do so they need to crack through a crystalline shell of ice.

Aside from this strong symbolism there is also a cunning repair to the top, left corner: it is super charming, quite subtle, but once you notice it you will no doubt realize that it lends some added visual interest to this piece.