A Fragment of Bengara Stenciled Overdyed Cotton: Red on Green

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
18 3/4" x 12 1/2", 46.25 cm x 32 cm

This absolutely beautiful fragment of over-dyed indigo, hand spun and hand dyed cotton shows a ground of luminous green colored cloth over which is stenciled a pattern of peonies against a background of arabesque.

The stenciled pattern is applied directly to the cloth using an iron-oxide pigment dye which in Japan is called bengara. When applied over the warm green dyed cotton, the bengara pigment creates a wonderful, contrasting cool-warm tonal effect.  In this case, the effect is also quite low-contrast as the tone of the red color is almost the same as that of the over-dyed indigo.

The cotton is hand spun and hand woven and the length of cloth shows overall fading and light surface abrasion from decades of wear. As can be seen this fragment is hand stitched from two pieces--just gorgeous.