A Pieced Pictorial Drawstring Bag: Hemp and Silk

early twentieth century
7" x 8 1/2" x 8 1/2", 18 cm x 21.5 cm x 21.5 cm

This hemp or ramie piece-constructed decorative bag is in worn and its fine decoration and very good design make it wonderful to look at.

The base of the bag is a hemp or ramie kasuri cloth; the applied decoration that encircles the bag in a repeated, ingenious pattern of hexagons, folding fans and arrow feathers is of chirimen or crepe silk in colors of very pale yellow, deep red, pale pink , teal and a deep, rich blue.  

You will notice a tear to the bag which is shown in detail on one of the photos accompanying this post.

The bottom shows a wonderful surprise: a piece-constructed image of what the Japanese called a hanabishi or diamond flower. This pieced image shows a fair amount of wear which tells us this bag was well-used.

This is a fancy bag which shows a good amount of design and execution skill.

Its drawstring and their loops are intact and seem original to the bag and the bag is  in used, slightly damaged condition cotton.

Lovely.