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Quilt cover
Unknown - Enlarge image
Quilt cover
- Place of origin:
Fukuoka, Japan (Hakata-shi, made)
- Date:
late 19th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Cotton, resist-dyed and painted
- Museum number:
T.331-1960
- Gallery location:
In Storage
The design on this bedding (futon) cover has been created using a technique called tsutsugaki, or ‘tube drawing’. In this method woven fabric is stretched on a frame of bamboo and a design drawn on the cloth with paste squeezed from a tube (tsutsu). The tube is made from paper treated with persimmon juice to make it water resistant; it has a nozzle of bamboo or metal through which the paste is extruded. The paste, made of rice flour, lime and water, forms a protective coating that prevents the colour penetrating when the cloth is dyed. Before the dye is applied, the surface of the fabric is brushed with soya bean liquid to seal the paste and help fix the dye. Once the dyed cloth is dry the rice paste is washed off. The process is repeated to obtain the various shades of blue.
