A Slubby Length of Richly Colored Zanshi Ori: Patched

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
72" x 14", 183 cm x 35.5 cm

Zanshi ori is cloth that is 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 patched boro length, with its beautiful color combination of a pale yellow and true indigo, is rich in texture due to the knots and slubs just described.  The tightly woven piece of old zanshi ori is beautiful in the hand and due to its many knots and slubby texture, this length of zanshi ori is a very good example of its kind.

Five cotton patches are hand stitched to this length, the contrast of the applied patches to the base cloth is artful and appealing.

A gorgeous example of home weaving, and very recommended.