The rice straw cord from which this contemporary bag is made is very tightly braided. The result is a very finely made product with a great deal of "energy". Setup is unknown. Base: 75 "warps" on each of the longer sides and a single central weft that binds the warps in place. There are possibly 6 extra warps added to form each end. They are attached to the outside warps at each end of the base and are added in once the central and 2 outer wefts have been woven in. Sides: 12 sets of "wefts" at 3cm intervals. The weaving style is futagoami. In the lower corners 2 extra wefts are woven in to strengthen this potentially weak point. Rim: A thick cord is used as a core for the rim. Cord or rope: the carrying cords attached to the rim are 105 cm long suggesting that the bag was designed to be carried on the back. Another cord attached to one side of the rim secured the contents.
Donor:
Estate of Karin Nelson
Collection place:
Mishima, Onuma District, Fukushima Prefecture
Verbatim coll. place:
Mishima-cho, Fukushima-ken
Culture or time period:
Japanese
Collector:
Dai Williams
Materials:
Rice straw (the mishima region is mountainous and has limited acreage in paddy but what they have they use.)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Baskets (containers)
Function:
1.2 Gathering and 5.7 Objects made for sale, souvenirs, models, and reproductions
Production date:
ca. 1995
Accession date:
March 20, 2012
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Dimensions:
whole and parts— width 58 centimeters, whole and parts— thickness 2.5 millimeters, whole and parts— height 35 centimeters, whole and parts— weight 605 grams, and whole and parts— thickness 2 millimeters