A Meiji Era Tenugui: Fine Shibori and Stylized Lightning
late nineteenth, early twentieth century
12" x 36 1/4", 30.5 cm x 92 cm
This is a tenugui or a traditional cotton hand towel that is ubiquitous in Japan.
This one is special because unlike most tenugui which are stencil dyed this one is dyed in beautifully-done, selectively hand dip dyed indigo --and it is old, it dates to the Meiji period.
On the right we see an expertly done geometric form which in fact is stylized lightning. This is rendered using a stitched shibori method. It is beautiful.
The center shows three expertly stitched kanji or Chinese characters, probably the name of the shop that offered this tenugui as a gift to its patrons. The upper, left hand corner shows a fan of pleated shibori that contains very delicate details. Just wonderful.
The shibori on this tenugui is extremely fine and very well done--and this one is part of a group of variations that will be offered here over time.
This piece is almost assuredly from Narumi/Arimatsu, a booming and powerful center of shibori production and brokering.
A tenugui is a traditional cotton hand towel that is ubiquitous in Japan because of its many uses. It can be used to mop sweat from a brow in summer; it can be worn on the head, kerchief-like, while working; it can be twisted and worn as a sweat band like sushi chefs do: there are endless ways to use a tenugui.
Sometimes these lengths of cotton are used by stores as a give away, sometimes as gifts at new year, other time for store promotions. Sometimes tenugui are brought back from trips as souvenirs if they are imprinted with a specialized image specific to certain region or town.
Although we do not know the actual original owner or provider of this gift tenugui it might be that it was a shop or a shibori dyer, a yukata broker or some other trade that relates to cloth and shibori.
No matter its origin or original purpose this is a very handsome one, rare for its expert shibori dying and for its artful composition and its very nice, old cotton.
Recommended.
