A Very Handsome Length of Patched Zanshi Cotton: Leftover Yarns

 early twentieth century
68" x 14", 173 cm x 35.5 cm

Zanshi 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 is a beautiful length of zanshi cotton which is wonderful for its indigo tones and its white color, for its slubby cotton yarns and for the arbitrary warp-based patterns that work themselves up the length of this starched piece of cotton cloth.  There are two, small hand stitched cotton patches on this length.

Of rich color and fine design, this is a wonderful example of hand weaving from an old Japanese home, and one that contains a great deal of inspiration for the weaver, designer or the collector of Japanese folk textiles.