A Length of Repaired Zanshi ori Cloth: Leftover Yarn Weaving

early twentieth century
68" x 13 3/4", 172.75 cm x 34.9 cm 

Zanshi ori is cloth woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers. 

Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen.

This length is interesting because you can see that kasuri yarns have been used in both the warp and the weft creating a kind of "white noise" plaid.

The overall tone of this length is dark and somber and the color changes very slightly with hardly-contrasting modalities over the length of the cloth.

The mending patch on the upper right hand corner creates a subtle visual break in the length; note as well an "L" shaped stitched mend to the bottom also shown in the accompanying detail photograph. There is also a small hole, almost unnoticeable, around the size of a lentil, not shown.

This is a very handsome length of cotton zanshi ori.