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A Japanese Fukusa – Gold Thread – Framed - Meiji browse these categories for related items... All Items: Japanese: Textiles: Ritual: Pre 1910: item #703046 Please refer to our stock #ICHI 540 when inquiring.
$695.00 |
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A very fine small Japanese fukusa – gift cloth – with a design in couched gold thread of a large ikebana arrangement with a temple bell. The material on which the design is embroidered is a midnight blue to black silk. The cloth is framed and matted with the frame a faux bamboo painted gold color frame. The framed image measures 21” by 19” – the fukusa itself measures 14 ¾” by 12 ¾”. It is in excellent condition with no loose threads - not examined out of the frame – we date it to the late Meiji period, circa 1880-1910. (Note - photos are at an angle to minimize reflection from the glass). A Fukusa is an elaborately decorated square of cloth used to cover a gift during its formal presentation. Fukusa were usually hand woven of the finest silk, in designs whose symbolic motifs were significant to the families. They were often hand painted and while others are embroidered in hand made pure gold, platinum or silver threads. This example is with the gold thread in a couched embroidery technique. Embroidery, couching and laid work are techniques in which yarn or other materials are laid across the surface of the ground fabric and fastened in place with small stitches of the same or a different yarn. Couching is also characteristic of Japanese metal-thread embroidery and Central Asian suzani work. Fukusa are among the most striking example of all of the skills of the Japanese artisan. They are quite rare. |
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