A Small Tsutsu: The Art of Tsutsugaki

ca. mid twentieth century
6" x 1 1/2" diameter, 15 cm x 4 cm diameter

This beautifully simple, small paper cone is the tool used to apply rice paste to cloth in the tsutsugaki method of freehand paste resist dyeing.

The tsutsu is made from washi which has been saturated in kaki shibu, or the extract from green persimmons.  This paper, or shibugami as it is called, is strengthened due to the presence of kaki shibu, which also renders the paper slightly impervious to water.

A lovely object.