REAL SILVER 925 WRAPPED SILK THREAD -
BRIGHT FINISH.
20 METRE SKEIN - PERFECT CONDITION -
VINTAGE STOCK.
I have made up some 2o metre skeins from the larger ones so that embroiderers can try this thread without having to buy a large amount at once.
This beautiful thread was craft made in small workshops in Japan by coating very thin Japanese washi paper with urushi lacquer and then silvering it with 925 silver leaf. This is then cut into fine strips and wound around a (usually grey silk but sometimes blue or purple silk) core thread.
The photo with my gloved hand and the pencil show the scale. I have shown the thread in the pictures against charcoal linen cloth and cream chirimen silk. These pictures were taken in natural light .
This is a thick (0.5mm diameter) thread. It can be surface embroidered by couching down with fine silk thread of different colours to produce depth and shading. One metre covers approximately 5 square centimetres densely. 20 metres covers about 100 square cm or 16 square inches. The thread thickness is about 0.5mm.
This thread was part of the stock of a business which wove cloth of silver gold and made and wove and embroidered elaborate gold and silver patterned obi material (the ornate brocaded and embroidered silk waist bands worn around a kimono by women). It was imported from Japan after the closure of the workshop.
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