A Section from a Sakabukuro: Wonderful Mending

early to mid twentieth century
11 1/2" x 12 1/2", 29 cm x 32 cm

A sakabukuro is a straining bag or filter used in sake production. Crude sake, or sake lees, is poured into this bag. The sealed bag is then subjected to the force of great pressure and the sake is filtered out of the this strainer--repeated use requires the bag to be patched and mended.

Here we see a section cut from a sakabukuro that highlights really charming and fairly unusual patching, its visual allure needs no further words to describe it.