A Boro Kasuri Work Coat: Subtle Repairs

ca. early to mid twentieth century
30 1/2" x 41", 77.5 cm x 104 cm

This is an interesting boro hanten or jacket which has been hand stitched from indigo dyed kasuri or ikat cotton.  The jacket is lined.

What makes it interesting is that it has most likely been constructed from another garment, the used kasuri cottons being reconfigured into this current form.

That said, there are some wonderful mendings to this jacket that are very difficult to see unless you look closely at the surface of the coat, the reason being that whoever mended this coat did so using the same kasuri cotton of which the coat is made.  She also attempted to situate the patches in such a way that the kasuri "dots" of the patches align with those of the coat.  Please have a look at the detail photos which accompany this post where these attributes are illustrated.

There is a fair amount of wear to this coat and there is surface abrasion to its entirety.  Still, it is a really wonderful, lovely thing that speaks eloquently of every day life in old Japan.