A Length of Jishiro or Blue-on-White Narumi Kongata Cloth: Plovers

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
45" x 13 1/2", 114.25 cm x 34 cm

Narumi kongata is a beautiful type of stencil resist dyed cloth which utilizes a set of stencils when used in combination yield a length of cloth that mimicked the look of soft-edged shibori.

Here we see a short length of very good indigo dyed cotton Narumi kongata that is dyed in the jishiro style, that is to say it is a blue-on-white pattern which is more difficult to achieve than the more regularly-seen white-on-blue pattern. In addition, to add to the high level of skill needed to dye this length, the piece is double-sided, meaning it was stencil resisted on both its sides.

The design is that of a languidly running stream or perhaps gently lapping sea water against a shoreline which are rendered in dark blue. In a faux shibori style we see frolicking plovers which in Japan are a popular design motif known as chidori. 

The chidori show two tones of indigo and each has a kind of halo of blue around the image. The length is of a generous size and the overall condition is good and used.

This is a particularly nice length of Narumi kongata cloth with a very appealing pattern.