Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Fabric Swatches

7742: 1980's Japanese Pongee Silk Ohshima Tsumugi,60" Blue-Black,Arai-Hari

Rare Japanese Textiles:

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

Catalog# 7742

Width:14 inches / 35.56cm
Length: 60 inches / 152.4 cm

US$17.00 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 -- John Marshall, expert on Japanese textiles HERE .)

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 designs the same on both sides; fabric color is a black background with several shades of blue to blue-gray for the designs; motif is a geometrically based grid of medallions of several configurations, all aligned in a perpendicular rows-columns configuration, elements about 2 inches square (Please see close-ups); There are also curlicue lines; very slight sheen to this slightly stiff fabric; little drape; same on both sides.

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

Recommended for making scarf/accessories.

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.