A Patched and Mended Re-Purposed Tsutsugaki Furoshiki: Bold Design

early twentieth century
48" x 50", 122 cm x 127 cm

This is a roughly and beautifully patched, four panel furoshiki which is a traditional cloth used for the storage and hauling of goods.

The base cloth of this particular one was re-purposed from a tsutsugaki textile showing the auspicious and heavily symbolic trio of pine, plum and bamboo rendered as roundels, now fractured due to the way the base cloth was re-worked.

The symbolic trio is knows as shochikubai.  Shochikubai conveys a depth of good wishes.  Plum shows courage as its blossoms, the first of the year, burst forth from under ice; the bamboo is resilience since it bends but does not break; the pine is a symbol both of long life and faithful marriage as its needles fall in pairs.

The rustic procession of patches that are centered on the cloth and are placed one after the other from side to side are beautiful in their happenstance. Clearly the center of the furoshiki needed support and as you can see from some of the detail photos here the base cloth shows dings and small holes so patching was necessary to reinforce some of these areas.

The overall look of this cloth is striking with the play of curved and rounded undyed areas in contrast to the heavy, rectangular patches.

Recommended.