A Length of Cotton and Silk Zanshi Ori: Patched Leftover Yarn Weaving

early to mid twentieth century
58" x 13 1/2", 147.5 cm x 34 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth that is woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers.  Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen.

This is a beautiful length of old zanshi ori that is hand stitched from two pieces and shows a pair of two hand-stitched patches. The cloth seems to be woven from a mixture of cotton and silk--or maybe rayon.

The weft is tight and variegated in many colors and the hand of the length is drapey and heavy.

Because of the various colors of the weft yarn there is a lot of visual interest in this very attractive length.