Indigo Kumo Shibori ‘zoikin’, Japan, Taisho (c.1920), 134x33cm. The common English translation of the Japanese word shibori is "tie-dye". However, a more accurate translation is "shaped-resist dyeing," which describes the inherent patterning process of manipulating the two-dimensional cloth surface into three-dimensional shapes before compressing them to dye. Diverse shibori techniques are used to obtain different patterns. This piece featuresspider-webs of ‘kumo’ shibori. Kumo shibori has long been known in Japan. a 12th century painting shows a simple hemp garment with a pattern that resembles this type of shibori. It appears frequently in the ukiyo-e (wood block-prints) of the Edo period (1603-1868), which depict the lives of people from all parts of society. In the 19th century, an unusually fine type of pleated and bound kumo shibori dyed in indigo on fine cotton became very fashionable. The present cloth was possibly a never-used ‘zoikin’ (diaper) as it is lined with brown cotton. In its design the spider-webs look to be at centre of larger ‘clouds’ of shibori, and these are of irregular and unpredictable form. This gives a sense of freedom to the whole composition, that i particularly like. Very good condition. Whimsical and great looking.