Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Silk Fabric Swatches

7458:1930s-50s Mud-Dyed Japanese Silk Doro-Ohshima Tsumugi, 55in. AraiHari

Catalog# 7458:

1930s-1950s Rare Japanese Textiles:

Doro (Mud-dyed)Ohshima Tsumugi (pongee) Silk Fabric Piece

Width:14 inches / 35.56 cm
Length: 55 inches / 139.8 cm

US$10.00 per piece plus shipping

Fabric History/Pedigree:

1930s-1950s lightweight doro ohshima tsumugi (mud-dyed) 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 .

Fabric Description Details:

This lightweight dark-brown fabric is translucent, fully interwoven with tan, figures (1.25inches/31.75mm daimeter) in evenly spaced rectangular grid array; the elements alternate from 4-leaf to 8 leaf flowers; note the tiny pixelation within the soft-white elements themselves; also some have cross and X lines in brown and burgundy-reds; please see close-ups. This is a 'doro-ohshima' fabric, meaning mud-dyed in the old traditional Ohshima island tradition.

BACKGROUND JAPANESE TEXTILES CULTURAL NOTES:

There are various types of older Ohshima Tsumugi silk that involve tsumugi using mud, indigo, and grass or plants in the dyeing process.

To learn about the older Ohshima textiles, there are details on that aspect of Japan's special pongee silk-making process which can be found on the National Foundation for Promoting the National Costume of Japan website. The site explains the natural plant dyes and mud etc. used in making older (1960s and earlier) Ohshima Tsumugi silks, 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."