A Very Good Quality Sakabukuro: Burnished Surface, Many Stitches

early to mid twentieth century
30" x 9 1/2", 76 cm x 24 cm

Sakabukuro, or sake straining bags, are beautiful boro textiles. Made of cotton saturated with green persimmon tannin, or kaki shibu, which gives the distinctive brown color, this utilitarian textile was used in sake making.

Crude sake, or sake lees, was placed in this bag and pressure was applied to squeeze out and filter the liquid. Repeated use required repeated mendings and we see the wonderfully odd stitches applied for this purpose.  

This is a good example of a sakabukuro. It shows a good deal of intensely stitched mending on the front and the back of the bag--and furthermore you can tell by the stained color of the cotton mending stitches and the "leathery" surface of this sakabukuro that it was dipped several times with green persimmon tannin after mending and throughout its lifetime of use.

A very handsome sakabukuro, and one of a quality that is desirable.

Recommended.