A Small Piece Constructed Bag: Very Old Cottons

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
6 1/2" x 7" x 7", 16.5 cm x 18 cm x 18 cm

This is a small, well-worn drawstring bag that is completely hand stitched from re-purposed indigo toned cotton cloth of very good age. The cloth shows designs of warp-based stripes, all of them hand woven of seemingly hand spun cotton.

The bag is small and has an interesting finish: the drawstring is drawn through only four, equally-spaced, simply formed tabs which, when the string is drawn shut, the bag is not r tightly closed.

The cotton pieces are all somber in tone and hand stitched together. Clearly they are repurposed from kimono and the fraying and small nicks to the cloth tell us this bag has been used hard.

This is a utilitarian bag and one with very good age, clearly more than 100 years.