A Beautifully Colored Panel from a Sakiori Kotatsugake: Rag Weave

mid twentieth century
70" x 13", 178 cm x 33 cm

This is a beautifully colored and well-designed length of sakiori, a kind of weaving that uses shredded cloth for its weft yarn; sakiori is the Japanese word for rag woven textiles. 

The warp yarns are of a dull grey colored cotton; the weft is woven of nicely toned shredded rag yarns in unusually narrow, horizontal stripes.  

This sakiori panel is taken from a kotatsugake or hearth cover for a table under which is housed a brazier.

Heavy cloth was draped over the table to contain the heat from the brazier and this heated table or kotatsu was a communal heat source for families.

Because most of Japanese homes still do not enjoy central heating a kotatsu is still a quite common fixture in Japanese homes. 

As mentioned above the overall coloration of this length is especially beautiful, sophisticated and subtle.

Please look at the detail photos to see the types of rag used to create the weft material--featured are images showing recycled kasuri and katazome cloth, very interesting to note.

Beautifully colored and nicely woven, this is a very good example of sakiori weaving.  

Recommended.

Recommended.