Storage bag (shifuku) for tea-ceremony utensil

Green and brown stripe silk with a floral motif woven into the fabric. The brown stripe has thirteen stripes woven into the fabric in gold thread along with red dots embroidered in the center of the flowers and yellow threads embroidered in the centers of the green flowers. This bag is in very poor condition. There is a yellow silk rope drawstring. The interior of the bag is lined with a purple silk. The silk is heavily shredded and torn throughout. There is an especially long tear along one of the side seams. There are many areas where the white cotton batting is exposed and many of the threads in the floral centers are snagged and pulled.

Historical period(s)
Edo period or Meiji era, 19th century
Medium
Silk, gold threads, cotton
Dimensions
H x W (flat): 46 x 40 cm (18 1/8 x 15 3/4 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Freer Gallery of Art Study Collection, Smithsonian Institution
Collection
Freer Study Collection
Accession Number
FSC-T-9
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Costume and Textile
Type

Bag

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, 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 and brown stripe silk with a floral motif woven into the fabric. The brown stripe has thirteen stripes woven into the fabric in gold thread along with red dots embroidered in the center of the flowers and yellow threads embroidered in the centers of the green flowers. This bag is in very poor condition. There is a yellow silk rope drawstring. The interior of the bag is lined with a purple silk. The silk is heavily shredded and torn throughout. There is an especially long tear along one of the side seams. There are many areas where the white cotton batting is exposed and many of the threads in the floral centers are snagged and pulled.

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