A "Leathery" Sakabukuro: Mended Sake Filter
33" x 9 1/4", 84 cm x 23.5 cm
Sakabukuro, or sake straining bags, are beautiful boro textiles. Made of cotton saturated with green persimmon tannin, or kaki shibu, which gives the distinctive brown color, this utilitarian textile was used in sake making.
Crude sake, or sake lees, was placed in this bag and pressure was applied to squeeze out and filter the liquid. Repeated use required repeated mendings and we see the wonderfully odd stitches applied for this purpose.
This is a nice example of a sakabukuro and it shows beautifully spare mending stitches along the fold of the bag and on the body itself, very attractive. There is loss to the bottom corner.
The bag is described as being "leathery" for the surface quality which has developed a coating and patina due to the many times it was dipped into kaki shibu, a repeated action that strengthened the bag.
This is a handsome sakabukuro with simple, precise mending.
