8146: 1960s Japanese Silk Ohshima Tsumugi, 4Petals, Fish-Scale,Bars,Grid,58",AraiHari

1930s-1950s Distinctive Japanese Textiles:

Catalog# 8146
Light Cocoa, Browns/Tan Ohshima Tsumugi (pongee) Silk Fabric
Pixelated Weave Tortoise Shell Traditional Pattern, Vertical Parallel Bands

Width: 14.5 inches / 36.83cm
Length: 58inches / 147.32 cm

US$20.00 per piece
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Item Details and Description

Fabric History/Pedigree: Pieces received from a traditional Japanese kimono cleaner/reconstructor called Arai-Hari -- see an excellent explanation of traditional Arai Hari by textile expert John Marshall,by clicking HERE;

For an excellent 'how-to' do Arai-Hari oneself, we highly recommend Kae Warnock's Blog, Chocolate Factotum:

Fabric Description Details:

This silk piece is lightweight, slightly translucent, minimally textured in a light cocoa color with a darker brown-to-dark tan background, with the full fabric pattern as a tiny pixel-mesh element; the elements have slight off-white threads, per the usual Ohshima Tsumugi weave/dye process. The fabric is the same on both sides; textured to the touch due to the tortoise shell pattern; the bands run vertically in parallel, and within the bands can be seen micro-tiny pinstripes; this is a classic Doro-Ohshima (Mud-Ohshima).

Colors: Please use our text color descriptions as a guide, keeping in mind that contrast and color can vary across devices.

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."