A Length of Faded Tsutsugaki Dyed Cotton: Beautifully Hand Spun

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
59" x 13 1/4", 150 cm x 33.5 cm

This is a panel of hand woven, tsutsugaki dyed cotton that is beautifully faded to reveal the wonderful hand spun cotton yarns used to weave this fabric.

It is always desirable for Japanese folk textiles to be made of hand spun cotton and this one shows this trait very well.

The panel was taken from a larger textile which showed auspicious noshi. Noshi is dried abalone that is stretched into long, ribbon like strips.  The word noshi is a homonyn for the word “prolong,” so it became customary to include noshi with a gift as a symbol of longevity and prolonged happiness.

There are some faint stains to the piece which can be seen in the close-up detail photos that accompany this piece, as well there is a patch. The piece shows overall light fading which is evident in all the photos.

A beautiful textile from old Japan.