Two 19th Century Silk Katazome Fragments: Sakura, Asa no Ha, Karakusa
$45.00 USD
ca. mid nineteenth century
two pieces:
-36" x 11", 91.5 cm x 28 cm
-64" x 5 1/2", 162.5 cm x 14 cm
This a beautiful pair of 19th century silk, each piece showing a twice-dyed katazome pattern, blue-on-blue. Hand stitched to the bottom of each of these blue silk pieces is a tattered remnant of benibana dyed or safflower dyed silk.
The cloth itself bears a wonderful, complex pattern: it is a crowded mixture of stylized hemp leaves or asa no ha and cherry blossoms-within-cherry blossoms, and inside some cherry blossoms are karakusa or a kind of arabesque motif.
The silk is very lightweight, like a lining silk, and one of the pieces bears a soft arc of white cotton sashiko stitches.
A lovely and subtle textile, with a great deal of age and soft spoken complexity, ready to be put to use in an art project.