A Pieced Cotton Drawstring Bag: Judicious Use of Tone and Pattern

early twentieth century
15" x 9" x 9", 38 cm x 23 cm x 23 cm

This rather tall drawstring bag is hand stitched from pieces of old cotton cloth, mostly square-shaped ones that are all set on the diagonal.

Whoever made this traditional style bag was inherently good at design: the central, dark area is made of a few different kinds of small-figure kasuri cloth, all of the same value and similar color, and this center area is made of put-together pieces. The pieces of vastly different quality of color and pattern were saved to use at the top and the bottom of the bag creating a striking design. It looks great.

The bag is still very usable and can easily be transformed into a pillow or it can be used, as is, for storage or decoration.

A wonderful old bag from traditional Japan, this shows nice, old cottons and and especially good design.

Wonderful to look at!