7066: 1960's Japanese Pongee Silk Ohshima Tsumugi,60 inches

Rare Japanese Textiles:

1960's Ohshima Tsumugi (Pongee) Silk Fabric

Catalog# 7066

Width:14.5 inches / 36.83 cm
Length: 60 inches / 152.4 cm

US$20.00 per piece

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 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, translucent Tsumugi silk with design the same on both sides: 4 large pairs of overlapping decorated open Japanese fans; fabric has slight drape; Background color is a solid charcoal-brown(looks black in lower lighting); fan designs are rendered by tiny pixelated lines (warp/weft); the foreground (dark brown & off-white) are of classic country scene, common traditional motif of pine trees, bamboo leaves, pond and country home; The background fans, partially visible, are of stylized swirl shapes in a muted green (please see closeups).

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.