A Length of Jishiro Katazome: Stylized Phoenixes

early to mid twentieth century
32" x 12 1/2", 81.25 cm x 31.75 cm

This is a length of indigo dyed cotton katazome cloth. As it is dyed as blue-on-white instead of the more customary white-on-blue this type of katazome is referred to as jishiro. Jishiro katazome is not as common as the white-on-blue variety.

The playful pattern has a syncopated feeling and is based on roundels and rectangles. Embedded in the squarer-shaped, larger rectangles is a highly stylized phoenix design which is so stylized it is almost abstracted.

The cloth itself is in good, used condition, the indigo has oxidized a bit and has gone from what must have been a fairly pure blue to what is now a greyish-blue.

This is a marvelously inventive fragment of old jishiro katazome and one that has great visual appeal.