A Length of Blurred and Rustic Katazome: Diagonal Stripes

early twentieth century
52" x 12", 132 cm x 30.5 cm

This is a length of blurred and seemingly quickly dyed katazome cotton: the white, undyed areas show stray dye and the dark areas are a bit muddled. The diagonal dark and light lines are beautiful, though, and there was a purpose to this type of cloth.

These boldly and simply dyed cottons were used in the service of temple or shrine festivals.

Often they were folded twice along the length to make them narrow and if so they were used to lead horses during celebratory time. They were also used to demarcate spaces within the temple or shrine complex.

This one was clearly used as it shows a bit of ingrained dirt from wear and some very faint staining. There are also some lightly ingrained creases from its former life.

The muddled or unclear edges is due to the cloth being resisted on both sides and the registration being uneven.

A fun and soulful little piece of old, katazome dyed cotton.