About the Item

Patched indigo cotton textile with stitching in homespun natural fibre, on a stretcher covered in indigo cotton, circa 1850-1900 Dimensions: 94 x 156 cm (can be hung portrait or landscape) Provenance: Gordon Reece collection Boro textiles were the traditional bedcovers and garments of poor rural communities of Northern Japan - the literal translation of ‘boro’ being rags. They were carefully constructed from salvaged pieces of second-hand cotton fabric bartered from sea faring merchants from the late 18th century, these examples are from the late 19th century and early 20th century. Cotton would have been a luxury for boro makers of the time and its inclusion is clearly prized. These fragments were pieced together with homespun bast fibre and are often reinforced using the traditional sashiko stitching that add a personal touch the compositions. Boros were subsequently worked on by each new generation that inherited them, often being several layers thick. Gordon Reece has been instrumental in the resurgence of interest in these artefacts of folk tradition. Similarly, to the rising appreciation of Gee’s bend quilts in the US, Gordon Reece presents boro as artworks of necessity. Each textile has been painstakingly conserved and attached to an indigo stretcher, but nothing has been altered. Reece has collected these specific pieces for their large scale and their intactness but mainly for their aesthetic qualities - lively designs, methodical designs and expressive designs. It is hard for Western audiences not to view these pieces through the lens of post-war art, including the work of Kurt Schwitters, Antoni Tapies, Robert Rauschenberg and Alberto Burri. Further, a growing interest in ‘outsider’ art has helped us appreciate the unsung and untrained artists of the past and present. Although it might be anachronistic to label the boro as art, it would be wrong to think that their construction was not guided by an inherently human creativity. Only a small number of genuine historical examples have survived because of the shame felt by their testament to rural poverty in Japan. In his pursuit of these piece Reece has been a pioneer, always on the look out for something unusual and unloved. This is the first time the collection have been publicly displayed in the UK since their inclusion in a groundbreaking exhibition on the subject - Boro: Threads of Life - in 2014 at Somerset house.

Dimensions:
Height: 61.42 in (156 cm)Width: 37.01 in (94 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Cotton,Patchwork
Place of Origin:
Japan
Period:
Late 19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1850-1900
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. The condition of these textiles is fully consistent with their age and use. Each textile has been painstakingly conserved and attached to an indigo stretcher, but nothing has been altered.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: G Reece ref 101stDibs: LU3657315861381