Gift Cover
mid 19th century (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This textile cover is called a ‘fukusa’. Traditionally in Japan, gifts were placed in a box on a tray, over which a fukusa was draped. The choice of a fukusa appropriate to the occasion was an important part of the gift-giving ritual. The richness of the decoration was an indication of the donor’s wealth, and the quality of the design evidence of his or her taste and sensibility. These two lobsters represent Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto, the two gods enshrined at Ise, Japan's most important Shintô shrine.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Satin silk, with embroidery in silk thread |
Brief description | Embroidered textile to cover a gift, known as a fukusa , with decoration of two lobsters, Japan, 1825-1875 |
Physical description | Satin silk with embroidered decoration of two lobsters |
Dimensions |
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Gallery label | British Galleries:
In the late Victorian period it was very fashionable to decorate the home with Japanese objects. Textiles such as this, which would have been used in Japan to cover a gift, were particularly popular. The striking lobster design would have seemed very exotic to the British public. |
Object history | Purchased from Charles William Deschamps (1A Old Bond Street), accessioned in 1884. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. This object is one of a group of Japanese textiles sold to the museum by Charles William Deschamps. He was a well-known dealer, mostly of contemporary paintings by artists such as Whistler, with a gallery a 1A Bond Street |
Summary | This textile cover is called a ‘fukusa’. Traditionally in Japan, gifts were placed in a box on a tray, over which a fukusa was draped. The choice of a fukusa appropriate to the occasion was an important part of the gift-giving ritual. The richness of the decoration was an indication of the donor’s wealth, and the quality of the design evidence of his or her taste and sensibility. These two lobsters represent Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto, the two gods enshrined at Ise, Japan's most important Shintô shrine. |
Collection | |
Accession number | 81-1884 |
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Record created | February 24, 2003 |
Record URL |
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