Vintage & Antique Japanese Fabrics by Piece: Other Type Fabrics

7282: 1980's Japanese Pongee Silk Ohshima Tsumugi,63 inches Arai-Hari

Rare Japanese Textiles:

1960's Ohshima Tsumugi (Pongee) Silk Fabric
Arai-Hari

Catalog# 7282

Width:14.5 inches / 36.83 cm
Length: 63 inches / 160.02 cm

US$22.00 per piece

Item Details and Description:

Fabric History/Pedigree: 1960's fabric from kimono pieces from an Arai Hari (special Japanese kimono cleaner -- see info on Arai-Hari HERE from John Marshall, expert on Japanese textiles .)

This is a special delicate lightweight Ohshima tsumugi silk from Amami Islands, Japan. Details on this part of Japan's special pongee silk-making process can be found on the National Foundation for Promoting the National Costume of Japan website, which explains the natural plant dyes and mud etc. used in making Ohshima Tsumugi, quoted here:

Characteristics: A plain woven silk fabric with pre-dyed scoured threads both for warp and weft. The color is refined and calm and the fabric is soft and difficult to wrinkle. Threads are dyed with plant dyes such as "Techiki" (Raphilolepis umbellata) and indigo (Persicaria tinctoria) with a technique, peculiar only to "Oshima Tsumugi," called "Ori Jime." As a variety, an additional treatment is made to the dyed thread by dipping them in muddy water. It is "Doro(mud) Zome(dyeing)." There are several kinds of "Oshima Tsumugi":"Doro Oshima," "Ai(indigo) Oshima," "Doro Ai Oshima," "Iro(color) Oshima" and "Natsu(summer) Oshima."

Fabric Description Details:

Thin fabric, slightly translucent Oshima Tsumugi silk with design the same on both sides; Background color is a mix of dark brown and lighter brown; the entire fabric is filled with interwoven tiny mesh patterns and designs with geometric patterns abounding; the entire background is rendered in tiny pixelated micro-lines, creating a motif dominated by large (8inches/20.32cm at longest sides) diamond shapes that are alternated with rectangular fields that have parallel bands within (please see pictures ); Other colors used are tans, burgundy red (within some of the figures) and a few small accents in light orange;

NOTE: All designs are the result of a pixelated effect, tiny pixelated lines created in the weaving/dyeing process (please see closeups); selvage on both sides is .25 inch (6.35mm) fabric slightly stiff, some drape.

Colors: Please use our text color descriptions to complement your sense of the fabric due to differences in contrast and color on different devices.

Condition: EXCELLENT.

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