Harbor Grid — Chongming Handwoven Check
A soft, light-to-medium-weight Chongming check in indigo, black and ivory, woven in plain weave with yarn-dyed cotton rather than printed on the surface.
Sold in 50 cm lengths
Width: approx. 39 cm · Recorded total: approx. 290 cm
- Quantity 1
- Approx. 50 × 39 cm
- Quantity 2
- Approx. 100 × 39 cm, supplied continuously whenever possible
Recorded total length: approximately 290 cm. Multiple quantities are cut as one continuous piece whenever possible. No free-remnant term was supplied; check Etsy for current stock and price.
- Object ID
- TA-CM-0007
- Origin
- Chongming · Shanghai, China
- Period
- c. 1960s
- Dating confidence
- estimated
- Material
- Handspun cotton
- Dimensions
- Approx. 290 × 39 cm recorded total; sold in 50 cm units
- Technique
- Handwoven homespun · Plain weave · Yarn-dyed weave
- Pattern
- Small check · Woven block grid
- Colours
- Indigo blue · Black · Natural ivory
- Washed
- Yes
Object condition
Gently washed vintage cloth, described as clean, softened and ready for sewing, patchwork or display. Natural handspun irregularities include uneven yarn thickness, tiny slubs, cottonseed flecks, loose fibres, raw edges and small colour or weave variations.
Identification notes
The supplied listing identifies the cloth as Chongming, Shanghai, around the 1960s. The exact maker and production date are not documented in the source.
Indigo-blue, black and natural ivory yarns cross on the loom to create small square checks. The blue and black sections alternate across the cloth, forming a practical block-grid rhythm.
This is explicitly described as a plain-weave, yarn-dyed household textile, not a raised treadle-woven fabric. Its character comes from the handspun yarn and the irregularity of the woven grid.
The fabric is relatively lightweight and relaxed rather than stiff or heavy, making it suitable for shirts, vests, light jackets, garment panels and linings as well as bags, book covers, cushions, patchwork and slow stitching.
The supplied listing presents square checks as carrying a feeling of order, steadiness and protection in everyday household cloth. Tubu Atlas records this as the listing’s cultural interpretation rather than a universal documented meaning.
Care from the supplied listing: wash gently and separately in cold water; avoid bleach, long soaking and tumble drying; air dry in shade.
A practical grid with a household rhythm
“Harbor Grid” is the contemporary name given to this piece for its blue-and-black check and quiet coastal association.
Poem for the cloth — 港格 / Harbor Grid: Blue and black cross in quiet rows; small squares holding village days; handspun cotton, softly worn; still carries the rhythm of the loom.
