A Beautifully Designed Komebukuro: Hemp or Ramie Cloth

This beautiful, small drawstring bag is hand sewn from about 12 pieces of hand loomed, indigo dyed Japanese hemp or ramie textile fragments, the assortment is comprised mainly of kasuri, or ikat textiles and a nice stripe. The cotton drawstring seems original to the bag, which seems never to have been used.

This kind of piece-constructed, drawstring bag is often referred to as a komebukuro.  

Komebukuro are bags that were used to bring token offerings of uncooked rice or beans to a temple or shrine festival, the piecing and patching often being thought-out and planned, for festive effect.   

A marvelous bag, it is one that shows a really good range of exceptional, hand loomed asa cloth.  It is an object that beautifully recalls the spirit of old Japan.