A Resist Dyed Cotton Noren: Sweet Shop Sign

**reduced from $175.00**
mid twentieth century
46 1/2" x 41", 118 cm x 104 cm

This is a three-panel, resist-dyed heavy cotton noren, a noren being a traditional curtain that acts as a shop sign or a kind of cover for an entrance way depending how the noren is used.  

Noren not only acted as shop signs--they are hung in the doorway of a business to announce the shop is open--but they also provided a barrier between the dust and chaos of the street and the inside of the shop or home. Additionally they provide some sort of psychological effect of delineating the transition between outside and inside.

This particular noren belonged to a wagashi maker's shop (a traditional confectioner) in Toyama, the shop name being Fukizawa-ya.

As is obvious by looking at the photos here this noren was well-used as there is evidence of light fading and some surface wear.

A handsome, still very usable traditional noren.