€115.00

Chabu 茶布 - Tea stage

Teaware is not for sale.

This chabu is a very dark purple colour. It is like the night sky in the summer. I used the rest of this unusual size for antique handwoven fabric. It is double wide and has two thicknesses of yarn which creates a coarse structure.

The biggest joy of a tea lover is to repurpose things and give them a second life by using them in their tea space. The chajin that appreciates wild-aged tea will enjoy this chabu that links us back to the 1900s. This is a rare find of handwoven linen cloth that originates from Germany. It is an admirable burlap fabric, very firm, with somewhat irregularly hand-spun threads and very pronounced texture with thicker weft threads, handwoven more than 100 years ago. Genuinely handmade and organic with occasional spots of blades of grass, pieces of leaves and straw woven in. I use old-school traditional methods to clean it and prepare it for dyeing with natural colours. The structure of plant fibre has a layer of protection on it which gives fabric strength and durability but prevents pigments from binding to it. Dyeing fabric naturally takes attention, observation and exploration but the result is well worth it. Like there are no two tea leaves alike, there are not two strands of grass that are the same by looking at this chabu one can take hours to admire it. Colours and patterns are created with dian hong leaves and rust that has been left in touch with the fabric over time to develop fascinating imprints.

These are hand-crafted pieces and no two look alike but they were created at the same time and space and very close to each other. Only 5 of these were made. All fabrics have been laundered and dried as normal. They are colourfast but may gently fade with time and exposure to sunlight. If needed it can be hand-washed and ironed with cotton settings.

Size:

30 x 90 cm

11.5 x 35.4 inches