A Very Good Length of Zanshi Boro: Old Cloth and Layers

ca. late nineteenth century
65" x 13 1/4", 165 cm x 33.5 cm

This is a really marvelous, old boro fragment.  It is a panel taken from a futon cover.

What makes this panel better than most, or perhaps more interesting, is its age, the beauty of its fading and wear, the quality of its threads, and the layers of cloth which comprise it.

On this webshop we have often spoken of the soulfulness of old cloth and the ito aji or thread taste which is its root.  This length of cloth is hand stitched from beautifully woven old cloth, the base of which being a rich, old, lovely length of zanshi ori, or cloth woven from leftover yarns.

In addition to the zanshi ori backing, please note the lovely katazome patch, onto which is placed a good sized patch of Edo komon, the famous small figured cloth popular in Japan in the 19th century.  The checked cottons, rich in texture, which appear at the top and bottom of this piece are fantastic, old and hand woven.

A superb, old length of Japanese boro cloth.