Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Fabric Swatches

7069: 1970's Japanese Pongee Silk Ohshima Tsumugi, 38 inches

Traditional Japanese Textiles:

1970's Ohshima Tsumugi (Pongee) Silk Fabric

(Arai-Hari)

Catalog# 7069

Width:14 inches / 35.56 cm
Length: 38 inches / 96.52 cm

List Price: US$12.00 per piece plus shipping
Sale Price: US$6.00 per piece plus shipping

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 lightweight Ohshima tsumugi silk from Amami Island, 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, minimally translucent, Tsumugi silk with designs the same on both sides: Background color is black but filled with tiny pixels in blue that give the fabric an overall blue look; Motifs are rows comprised of alternating figures: ornate almost baroque curling borders (7 inches X 4 inches / 17.78 cm X 10.16 cm), and diamond shapes with cilia-like edges(4.5inches X 3.5 inches / 11.43cm X 8.89 cm). (Please see close-ups);

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,

Popular with our antique Japanese textile aficionados and collectors.