A Length of Plaid Cotton: Homespun Yarns and Changing Pattern

late nineteenth century
58" x 13 1/2", 147.5 cm x 34 cm

This is a length of hand woven cotton plaid cloth that is made of richly textured hand spun yarns. This length embodies what the Japanese like to refer to as "thread flavor," a flattering description of hand woven cloth.

This length is interesting because it shows a plaid that is darker at top than on the bottom, suggesting that leftover yarns were used to weave it. Note the small area of loss to one of the selvedges which is shown on detail photos here.

The actual color of the cloth is a bit more complex than what is shown in the photos here however overall this is a very good quality length of country cloth with the kind of weave that you would want to see when acquiring an old Japanese folk weaving.

Beautiful.