Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Fabric Swatches

7792: 1980s Deadstock Ohshima Tsumugi Silk, Geometrics,Modernistic 62in. Piece

Traditional Japanese Textiles:

1980's Ohshima Tsumugi (Pongee) Silk Fabric
Modernistic/Abstract

Catalog# 7792

Width:14.5 inches / 36.83 cm
Length: 62 inches / 157.48 cm

US$18.00 per piece

Item Details and Description

Fabric History/Pedigree: 1980's fabric from kimono pieces from headstock rolls (unused 'new' from another time.); roll intact with maker's certificate of authenticity (included with first piece order.

This is a light-medium-weight 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:

Thicker, stiff, light-medium weight Ohshima Tsumugi silk, grayish pale-blue background with designs the same on both sides: selvage of .25 inch / 6.35 mm; Motifs are hard to describe: looks like fractal fields in the dark gray-blue to muted mauves and burgundies, considerable gradation of coloring within the darker areas; Other designs in the lighter spaces are stylized vines or something -- sort of a Rorshach as to labeling the motifs; Note the pixelated fields throughout all the various patterns, common in Ohshima Tsumugi (please see closeups).

NOTE: Our interpretation of this motif as modernistic/abstract we mostly apply to 1950s-60s or early post-war fabrics, but we think it applies to this fabric also, quoting ourselves (smile):

COMMENTARY:

To our eye, this is a highly modernistic, Western-influence sort of kimono fabric design; Such innovative designs break from traditional/classic Japanese art designs/themes, yet still incorporate some classic Japanese aesthetics; this kind of creativity was big after World War II (after 1945), as Japanese artists and kimono fabric designers felt liberated from the oppression in Japan during the war, and they experimented with many creative looks-- like this one, somehow keeping a Japanese look but rendered with strong influences from Western art -Impressionism, Abstracts - This is just our opinion, Yoko).

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,

Recommended for making scarf/accessories.

Popular with our antique Japanese textile aficionados and collectors.