Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Fabric Swatches

7460:1980's Japanese Pongee Silk Ohshima Tsumugi,63 inches Arai-Hari

7460:1980s Ohshima Tsumugi Silk,full view

1980's Ohshima Tsumugi (Pongee) Silk Fabric

Used/Cleaned Arai-Hari

Catalog# 7460

Width:14.75 inches / 37.47 cm
Length: 61 inches / 154.94 cm

US$19.00 per piece
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Item Details and Description

Fabric History/Pedigree: 1980s 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:

Lightweight fabric Oshima Tsumugi silk with design the same on both sides; Background color is a cream-tan color; design colors are in lighter shades of mauve, light grayish-blue, and some light to darker burgundy colors; the entire background is rendered in tiny pixelated micro-lines/Xs/+, creating slightly flower blossoms of various shades and contrast; Note that all the motifs are interwoven in tiny pixels, most of which serve as background with very small mesh design/weave,( tiny plus signs); Please see closeups.

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,

Popular with our antique Japanese textile aficionados and collectors.