A Large 19th Century Boro Paper Object: Laminated Recycled Ledger Books

ca. early to mid nineteenth century
64" x 30", 162.5 cm x 75.5 cm

This is a very curious and beautiful object which has been made from laminated, recycled ledger paper leaves.

Its original intent is not know, but it is speculated that it may have had something to do with raising silkworms for the silk spinning industry.

In old Japan, and up through the mid-twentieth century, private households would raise silkworms as a kind of cottage industry and as a way to augment their income.

It has been suggested that this wonderful thing may have originally been used in this service, perhaps as some kind of "sling" to hold cocoons or to feed silkworms (although silkworms are usually fed on a stiff, open holed net).

Pore over the attached photos here to see the many different pieces of paper that have been glued together to create this large sheet of stiff paper. 

And notice the remarkable and wonderful little sgraffito, the strange, smiling face which someone doodled on the paper, probably almost two hundred years ago.

Just fantastic, unusual, and a true folk object.