A Horn Bag or Tsunobukuro: Green Persimmon Dyed Bast Fiber

early twentieth century
51" x 13", 129.5 cm x 33 cm

This is a tsunobukuro, or horn bag, so called because of its unique appearance: this bag is fashioned from one length of cloth hand sewn on the bias, an ingenious way to achieve zero waste.

The result of this construction are two "horns" which appear at the top of the bag.

Tsunobukuro were made for storage and hauling. Grains, beans or rice were often the items which were stored in these bias-constructed bags.

This particular tsunobukuro is hand stitched from woven hemp cloth that was dipped into kaki shibu, a liquid tannin extracted from a special type of inedible persimmon which are cultivated expressly for their tannin: kaki shibu stains objects with a brown color and helps to make fibers and surfaces more durable: kaki shibu also has a waterproofing quality.  

The bag has tightly twined, long ties and some loss to the bottom corner, shown on the detail photos here.

For the serious collector of  old Japanese of rural cloth and utilitarian, functional fabrics, this bag is a welcome addition to your collection both for its fine condition and its type. 

A beautifully simple tsunobukuro.

Recommended.