A Heavily Stitched and Mended Sakabukuro: Hemp on Cotton

early twentieth century
24" x 9", 60.95 cm x 22.8 cm

Sakabukuro, or sake straining bags are made of cotton and are saturated with green persimmon tannin, or kaki shibu, which gives the bag's cotton cloth a distinctive brown color.  This beautifully worn and mended utilitarian textile was used in the sake making process.

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

This wonderful. lightweight cotton bag shows fantastic mending in the form of blocks and areas of hemp thread, each beautifully placed on the front, back and sides of the bag.   The top finished hem is torn off as is one of the bottom corners. There are faintly printed Chinese characters of kanji to be seen on the front of the sakabukuro.

In recent years very good sakabukuro, have become more and more difficult to find, in large part due to their attractiveness and the fact that they have become a popular, collectible item.

The stitching on this sakabukuro, because it is hemp thread, makes it slightly more unusual than most, and that the stitching is beautifully done and so plentiful is also a bonus.

Recommended.