Storage bag (shifuku) for tea-ceremony utensil

Green silk background with a woven gold crane with wings spread design throughout. There is no drawstring or string woven along the top edge to hold the drawstring in place. The interior of the bag is lined with a white silk with a diamond shape pattern woven in the fabric throughout. The thread connecting the top edge is missing so the interior and exterior silks are no longer connected exposing the interior batting.

Historical period(s)
Edo period or Meiji era, 19th century
Medium
Silk with gold threads, white cotton batting
Dimensions
H x W (flat): 18 x 29.5 cm (7 1/16 x 11 5/8 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Freer Gallery of Art Study Collection, Smithsonian Institution
Collection
Freer Study Collection
Accession Number
FSC-T-19
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Costume and Textile
Type

Bag

Keywords
crane, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), tea
Provenance

?-1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), method of acquisition unknown [1]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:
[1] This bag once held a ceramic owned by Charles Lang Freer but was separated from that ceramic at an unknown time for an unknown reason, most likely after Freer's collection was brought to Washington, DC (see note 2).

[2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920, upon the completion of the Freer Gallery of Art.

Research Completed on March 23, 2022

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Green silk background with a woven gold crane with wings spread design throughout. There is no drawstring or string woven along the top edge to hold the drawstring in place. The interior of the bag is lined with a white silk with a diamond shape pattern woven in the fabric throughout. The thread connecting the top edge is missing so the interior and exterior silks are no longer connected exposing the interior batting.

Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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