A Length of Katazome Cotton: Grapes and Vines

early twentieth century
42" x 13", 106.5 cm x 33 cm

This is a length of indigo dyed cotton katazome cloth that is hand woven from hand spun cotton yarns, the hand spun yarns being a desirable characteristic when considering Japanese folk textiles.

The pattern of grapes and their vines and leaves is unusual when it comes to textile designs--often grapes are shown in a traditional pairing with squirrels, a motif borrowed from Chinese tradition. Squirrels are not present in this pattern.

The design is playful and has a light hearted visual appeal. The pattern is fairly large in scale and the rendering of the grapes is inventive.

In good, used condition with a bit of a snag to the upper left-hand corner, shown in a detail photo here.

Really lovely and a bit unusual for the rarity of this design.