A Woven Jute Feed Sack: Repairs and Mending

early to mid twentieth century
41" x 29", 104 cm x 73.75 cm

This is a burlap sack that seems to have been used for storing and packaging soybeans intended for animal feed. The bag is thickly woven and heavyweight, and as it appears to have been acquired directly from a farm or warehouse it is still rather dusty from its life there.

The cloth is nicely woven and the green stripe is not printed on the bag, it is woven into the fiber of the bag.

There are patches, stamping and some ingenious little areas of mending that resemble little creatures like tortoises, however that similarity was not intended.

The side seams of the bag are attractively stitched and the entire, rustic thing is fun to look at. Notable, too, is that all textiles in old Japan were mended, much like American or European country cloth, especially feed bags.