A Length of Heavily Woven Egasuri Cotton: Amazing Images of Daikon and Mice

late nineteenth century
77" x 18 /12", 195.5 cm x 47 cm

This is length of hand spun, hand woven, indigo cotton that has been dyed in the kasuri method. The length is compose of one full-width length to which is hand stitched a half-width length.

The cotton is thick and undeniably hand woven, quite obvious when you touch the cloth, feel its texture and assess its weight.

It shows a remarkably rare and interesting image of a forked daikon and mice.

The forked daikon is a rather overt reference to fertility and by extension, abundance, while the mice depicted near the daikon echo this sentiment--mice reproduce rapidly and are found anywhere there is food.

The cloth is tonally rich with "grey" areas, deep blue areas and white areas. More than likely this was woven in the Kurume or Mizuma area of Kyushu island.

The width-and-a-half length of cloth was more than likely not used as it shows little-to-no wear and its color tones are still very deep and rich.

Wonderful and wonderfully recommended.