A Lined Cotton Tube: Two Drawstrings and Edo Komon
ca. late nineteenth, early twentieth century
9 1/2" x 7", 24 cm x 18 cm
God only knows what was the original use for this tube of piece cottons: the drawstings at either end create the mystery.
Aside from the mysterious, intended function of this piece, it is interesting for its nice little chunk of Edo komon cotton, Edo komon being a small figured katazome dyed (usually) cloth that was popular during the late Edo period (ca. 1800-1868) and one that is quite collectible for its beauty and for all the work that went into cutting the stencil used to dye the piece.
Note some surface abrasion and a nice sized nick in the cloth.