A Length of Complex Patterned Shibori: Masterful Technique

early twentieth century
43 1/2" x 13 1/2", 110.5 cm x 34.5 cm

This is a length of indigo dyed cotton shibori that was made in Japan's "shibori capital" or in the towns of Arimatsu and Narumi which produced so much of the most inventive shibori cloth in Japan.

This type is finely pleated in a horizontal direction and is dyed in some kind of ingenious way that the pleating and dyeing create a checkerboard effect on the length. As this piece happens to be from the end of the bolt you can see there is variation to the pattern at the top of this length. This is shown on the second detail photo on this post.

The cloth is still textured from the tight pleating and there is a bit of haze of a blue tone in the "white" areas of the design. Other than that this length is in good, used condition and is a rather remarkable example of complex shibori dyeing.

Recommended.