A Faded Hand Painted Raw Silk Furoshiki: Lyrically Depicted Nature

tslate nineteenth century
40" x 40 3/4", 101.5 cm x 103.5 cm

This faded beauty is a furoshiki or a traditional wrapping cloth that is made of raw silk.

The lyrical image of a mandarin duck and chick set against a background of plum blossoms and bamboo leaves is hand drawn using the yuzen method, a sophisticated way of resisting and hand painting scenes onto cloth that was developed in the 17th century in Japan.

The fading creates a soft atmosphere for these brilliantly colored birds who were no doubt strong in color when the furoshiki was just made. The manner in which the plum branches are formed, the way they sway and fill the space, is well conceived and beautiful to look at. 

In Japan plum blossoms signify courage as they are the first to bloom and to do so they have to burst through a shell of winter ice. Bamboo is resilience because it bends but does not break. Mandarin ducks symbolize eternal love and devotion and based on the very strong symbolic motifs seen on this furoshiki we can conjecture it was a gift at a wedding or part of the bridal trousseau.

There is also a family crest which is situated in the lower, right hand corner that isNew@Sri composed of stylized bamboo leaves.

As is very clear when poring over the detail photos here this beauty suffers from condition issues: small stains, nicks and holes dot the surface of the piece rather evenly. Along with the fading these flaws, remarkably, do not deter us from enjoying the delicately rendered scene of two Mandarin ducks floating against a magnificent background of plum and bamboo.

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