kaki kueba kane ga naru nari Horyuji
Masaoka Shiki 25-26/10/1895
I bite into a persimmon
and a bell resounds -
Hôryûji
(translation by Janine Beichman)
A bit early for persimmons, since it is a winter fruit. But i'm anxiously waiting for the return of a friend from Japan who is bringing me kakishibu or persimmon tannin juice.
Persimmon is sort of a wonder fruit and one of its wonders albeit not the most wondrous one is the dye. Beautiful shades of tan to brown are obtained by dyeing with the fermented juice. And as all things Japanese the relative ephemeral quality of the dye and its subtle changes is what makes it more treasured. Wabi- sabi aesthetics.
Waiting for the stuff to arrive and having had no experience using it i dedicated some time searching the net and found all kinds of relevant and delightfully irrelevant information. It is a potent disinfectant,insect repellent, waterproofing substance, treatment for survy and the list goes on. Not to mention its delicious culinary uses.
Relevant to dyes there is Kakishibui a company that sells the extract and has some wonderful examples of dyed fabric and clothes and this delightful Japanese webpage.
i have my fingers crossed hoping for an extension of hot summer days so that i can enjoy dyeing on my terrace.
Oh and i forgot! The color code for a persimmon color is persimmon color
HEX: #F94D0B RGB: 249, 77, 11
neki desu
thanks for all the dyeing info, i really intend to get into it when my life quiets down a bit.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, Neki. Persimmons grow well out here in the central valley of CA. I never thought about dyes from them but I explored your links and the colors are delightful.
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