A Ball of Festival Twine: Cotton and Bast Fiber
ca. mid twentieth century
as shown: 6 1/2", 16.5 cm, diameter
6+ yards long, 5.9 m long
This is a length of cotton covered bast fiber which has been twined in such as way as to become rope: three cords of covered hemp or ramie strands are twisted together to form this cording.
Each of the three strands of rope is covered in a different colored cotton: white, pale blue and dark blue cotton are the tones of cotton which create this lovely and festive cording.
Most likely this rope was used at a shrine or temple festival: it
could have been used for any number of purposes, such as to hang
bunting, to cordon off an area, to lead a horse, etc. This length was
used hard as can be seen by the overall abrasion to the piece, which
adds to its charm. As well, note a passage of red color on the rope: this is a some kind of stain to a short section of the rope, a stain that occurred during its lifetime of service.
