Mounted Itajime Shibori

This is a mounted itajime shibori from the early 20th century. Shibori is a Japanese tie dye technique. There are many types of shibori, each of which depends on a different technique for manipulating the dyed yarn. Shibori can be achieved by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, or compressing the fabric before it is dipped in pigment to create dyed and undyed sections of the textile in pre-determined patterns. Itajime shibori is a shaped resist technique. The cloth is sandwiched between two shaped pieces of wood that are held in place with clamps thus preventing the dye from penetrating the cloth they cover.