A Large Bag Made from Recycled Ledger Paper: Sericulture

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
33" x 24 1/4", 84 cm x 62.5 cm

This beautiful, large bag was hand made from recycled ledger books. All the handwriting seen on this bag are ledger entries which document inventories, accounts and similar transactions that need to be recorded and maintained.

The bag has been lightly stained in kaki shibu which is fermented, green persimmon tannin. Kaki shibu is commonly used to reinforce and strengthen materials; it is often used to strengthen the fibers of cloth used in utilitarian textiles and where paper goods are concerned kaki shibu is also often seen.

This large bag was used in sericulture, it was said to have carried or stored cocoons. As such, when opened, the bag has a fairly flat bottom to accommodate its contents but when shown as in the photos here it is a beautiful artwork that can be admired for its intrinsic qualities.

Just beautiful.