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Orientations | Volume 55 Number 4 | JULY/AUGUST 2024 3 Fukusa with feather robe Japan; late Edo (1603–1868) or Meiji (1868–1912) period, 19th century Gold thread and embroidery on silk satin; 80.8 x 65.5 cm Asian Civilisations Museum, Gift of Chris Hall (Takemura, 1991, pp. 166–67). While the message behind each design can be elusive for the modern viewer, interpreting these nuances would have showcased the erudition and cultural sensitivity of both the giver and receiver. Besides imbuing gifts with personal meaning, fukusa also reflected the giver’s taste, wealth, and status. In the stylish world of Edo Japan, many fukusa followed the latest fashions and displayed lavish techniques or designs (fig. 5). These were periodically restricted by sumptuary dress laws. For example, regulations passed in 1682 and 1683 banned the manufacture and wearing of gold-figured gauze (kin sha), flashy embroidery, and all-over ‘fawn spot’ tie-dye (kanoko shibori) (Stinchecum, 1984, p. 53). Dress was closely associated with class, and these rules aimed to curtail flagrant displays of wealth and status, particularly for commoners like well-todo merchants who wore notoriously ostentatious garments. Soft and supple silk damasks like rinzu, often imported from China, were favoured for both clothing and fukusa (Denney, 2013, p. 65). 4 Fukusa with Rin Nasei and crane Japan; late Edo (1603–1868) or Meiji (1868–1912) period, 19th century Pigment, gold thread, and embroidery on silk satin; 76.8 x 63.4 cm Asian Civilisations Museum, Gift of Chris Hall birthday celebrations (ga no iwai). Even within this conventionalized visual language, the variety of techniques and methods of representation reveal the creative ingenuity of both makers and patrons. Other fukusa feature sophisticated references to Japanese and Chinese literature. One embroidered with a pair of wings alludes to the Noh play Hagoromo (The Feather Robe), a story of friendship, kindness, and reciprocity—sentiments especially fitting on objects used to give and return presents (fig. 3). Another, decorated with an image of the poet-immortal Rin Nasei (Lin Hejing, 967–1028) would have been presented to elders and mentors (fig. 4). The absence of Rin’s attendant from the design suggests that the gift-giver is cleverly comparing himself to the attendant and the recipient to Rin. This fukusa was also suitable for presentations of red-bean buns (manju) that were given as return gifts at weddings. According to legend, manju were first made in Japan by a descendant of Rin Nasei 114
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5 Outer kimono with pine and cherry blossoms, featuring the kanoko shibori technique Japan; late Edo (1603–1868) period, 19th century Embroidery, gold thread, stitch-resist tie-dye (nuishime shibori), and ‘fawn spot’ tie-dye (kanoko shibori) on figured silk satin (rinzu); 164.5 x 123 cm Asian Civilisations Museum, Gift of Chris Hall 115

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Orientations | Volume 55 Number 4 | JULY/AUGUST 2024

3 Fukusa with feather robe Japan; late Edo (1603–1868) or Meiji (1868–1912) period, 19th century Gold thread and embroidery on silk satin; 80.8 x 65.5 cm Asian Civilisations Museum, Gift of Chris Hall

(Takemura, 1991, pp. 166–67). While the message behind each design can be elusive for the modern viewer, interpreting these nuances would have showcased the erudition and cultural sensitivity of both the giver and receiver.

Besides imbuing gifts with personal meaning, fukusa also reflected the giver’s taste, wealth, and status. In the stylish world of Edo Japan, many fukusa followed the latest fashions and displayed lavish techniques or designs (fig. 5). These were periodically restricted by sumptuary dress laws. For example, regulations passed in 1682 and 1683 banned the manufacture and wearing of gold-figured gauze (kin sha), flashy embroidery, and all-over ‘fawn spot’ tie-dye (kanoko shibori) (Stinchecum, 1984, p. 53). Dress was closely associated with class, and these rules aimed to curtail flagrant displays of wealth and status, particularly for commoners like well-todo merchants who wore notoriously ostentatious garments. Soft and supple silk damasks like rinzu, often imported from China, were favoured for both clothing and fukusa (Denney, 2013, p. 65).

4

Fukusa with Rin Nasei and crane

Japan; late Edo (1603–1868) or Meiji (1868–1912) period, 19th century

Pigment, gold thread, and embroidery on silk satin; 76.8 x 63.4 cm

Asian Civilisations Museum, Gift of Chris Hall birthday celebrations (ga no iwai). Even within this conventionalized visual language, the variety of techniques and methods of representation reveal the creative ingenuity of both makers and patrons.

Other fukusa feature sophisticated references to Japanese and Chinese literature. One embroidered with a pair of wings alludes to the Noh play Hagoromo (The Feather Robe), a story of friendship, kindness, and reciprocity—sentiments especially fitting on objects used to give and return presents (fig. 3). Another, decorated with an image of the poet-immortal Rin Nasei (Lin Hejing, 967–1028) would have been presented to elders and mentors (fig. 4). The absence of Rin’s attendant from the design suggests that the gift-giver is cleverly comparing himself to the attendant and the recipient to Rin. This fukusa was also suitable for presentations of red-bean buns (manju) that were given as return gifts at weddings. According to legend, manju were first made in Japan by a descendant of Rin Nasei

114

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