A Very Long Shrine Banner: Dated 1888

dated Meiji 20 or 1888
152" x 25", 386 cm x 63.5 cm

This is a very long (more than 12' or almost 4 meters) of a hand spun, hand woven cotton banner that was flown at a Shinto shrine and is dated as Meiji 20 or 1888.

The banner is shown in the lead photo as partially hung on a wall and partially extended outward draped on the floor: it is too long to be properly photographed.

All the kanji or Chinese characters on it are hand written in charcoal-based ink and there are references to Inari or a Shinto fox god as well as to celebration. There are hand stitched tabs to the top and to the right-hand side of the banner, and there are some not-terribly -bad tears to the flag which are shown on the detail photos here.

Its sheer length is a selling point to this banner as is the richly arranged calligraphy that assumes different scales within the surface of the flag.

This is a wonderful thing--and one with good age.