A Repurposed Over Dyed Indigo CottonTextile: Resisted and Hand Painted

ca. late nineteenth century
34" x 18", 86.5 cm x 46 cm

What is first so striking about this boro textile is its golden green color--and its beautifully hand resisted and hand painted details.

Repurposed from what may have been bedding or sleeping kimono, this overdyed indigo cloth shows fractured oversized graphics of the tachibana or a "wild orange" on one side, while on the other side are, again, parts of tachibana and a section of a large kamon or family crest.  

Hand painted details are subtly added in black dye around the resisted, undyed areas of cloth.

The size of this finished cloth gives the impression that it could have been a sleeping mat for a baby or a small child, but its original function is unknown.

Still, the jumbled images, the color, the patches and the hemp stitching on this cloth all come together to make it an unusual and very beautiful boro textile.

Just lovely.