An Elegant, Six Panel Resist Dyed Indigo Noren
March 5, 2010
What a striking, paste resist, indigo dyed cotton noren or door covering. It is sewn from six panels which creates an almost monumental presence, the actual size being 68″ x 73″ or 163 cm x 185.5 cm.
Centrally placed is the large, mon, or family crest, in this case it is an unusual, stylized rendering of kashiwa or oak. Beneath the mon in stepped formation is the wonderfully zigzag matsukawa bishi or pine bark motif.
This noren probably dates to the early twentieth century–perhaps just a bit earlier. Its size indicates that it was probably meant to hang in front of a building; also indicative of this is the very tightly woven, heavy cotton which would have been strong enough to withstand the elements, street traffic and its dust and dirt.
Notice how the matsukawa bishi pattern interlocks and creates another iteration of itself in the negative spaces? Notice, too, how the selvedge edge of each panel is finished: each edge is back stitched in contrasting, white thread.
This is a beautifully designed, beautifully executed old noren.
In: Tags: katazome, noren, tsutsugaki - 0 Comments
The rolled and tied sashiko stitched cotton fragment sits in a hand carved soba noodle dough mixing bowl along with a ball of indigo, katazome dyed 
The massive wooden bowl, which was carved and hollowed from the cross section of a single tree, shows a metal plate that mends its lip. The bowl’s wood is deeply colored, rich in patina and beautifully heavy.
In the photo above, note the surface of the bowl’s interior.
An old piece of indigo dyed cotton kasuri or ikat cloth is used to tie the sashiko stitched bundle.
Within the cities of Arimatsu and Narumi, countless families were engaged in all aspects of shibori making and finishing, and within this hotbed of shape resist dyeing, amazing technical innovations flourished during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Pictured on the left in the photo above is a bolt of indigo dyed cotton showing the shirokage or white shadow technique, the pattern being that of the tortoise shell or kikko.
The bolt on the right, above, seems to be a vertical, fine wood grain (tate komokume) type of arashi or pole-wrapped shibori. A similar example is shown in 
The cotton is both hand spun and hand woven, and is gorgeous to the touch.
Shown is a long section of recycled paper twine cradled by an antique Korean grain measure.
If you look closely, you can see blips of black and grey in the paper cord: this, of course, is the charcoal-based ink calligraphy on the repuporsed mulberry paper.
Because the fibers of paper mulberry (kozo in Japanese) are so long, the paper made from this plant is almost like unwoven cloth: it is extremely pliable, unlike the cellulose paper we use every day.
I believe this paper cord was made sometime mid-to-late last century.
These two seate are a mid-twentieth century types; each is made of shredded cotton cloth that has been braided, twined and woven along with some hemp fibers. Other seate–ones that pre-date these as well as ones that are contemporary to these shown here–are woven of rush, bast fibers or rice straw. I posted an earlier entry on similar pieces with these two shown here visible in the photos, but they are not featured. Have a look 
The “festive” look of these fringed, brightly colored objects is a strange, visual irony when you consider that these pieces were used in heavy labor, on an ongoing basis.
It seems that most of the rags used to weave these seate are commercially produced cottons: by the mid twentieth century when these seate were woven, mass produced cotton fabrics were ubiquitous in Japan.
Note the presence of some hemp twine in the construction of these seate.
I find this pair fascinating, compelling and really beautiful.