Back cushion, bandori

Museum number:
9-23023
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21090023023
Alternate number:
Ban 1
Accession number:
Acc.4789
Object count:
1
Description:
Traditional Japanese bandori intricately woven from linden bast ("shina"), sedge ("suge"), wild grapevine bark ("budo"), and cotton rags. The two shoulder straps are made of braided sedge interwoven with strips of black and maroon cotton rag. The straps are spaced barely 1.5" apart; at ends of straps, braid tapers into sedge cords attached at either side of cushion to loops made of wild grapevine bark. Cushion where it rests against back is U-shaped with vertical central opening; this inside layer of cushion is made from strands of rice straw lying taut side-by-side in a radial pattern. At the edge these strands continue into a single-plaited seam, with two thinner, parallel seams of grapevine bark. A net made from grapevine bark lies flat against the outside or "front" of the cushion and covers the central opening; a horizontal strap runs the entire width of the cushion, made of disparate strips of wild grapevine bark pushed through a central vertical loop. length - 27.5", width - 9.75", thickness - 2.5
Donor:
Estate of Karin Nelson
Collection place:
Yamagata Prefecture, South Tohoku, Tohoku region
Culture or time period:
Japanese
Collector:
Dai Williams
Collection date:
June 4, 1995
Materials:
Cotton (textile) (cotton rag), Linden (wood) (linden bast), Rice straw, Sedge, and Wild grapevine (wild grapevine bark)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Cushions
Function:
5.0 Use not specified (Ritual, Pageantry, and Recreation)
Accession date:
March 20, 2012
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Dimensions:
weight 9.75 inches, length 27.5 inches, and depth 2.5 inches
Comment:
The name "bandori" is a local dialect for "back protector" and is usually associated with Yamagata Prefecture, although they were also made in Fukushima, Niigata, and Nagano. This example comes from Nishitagawa-gun in Yamagata. It was acquired from a dealer at Kobosan in Kyoto who said that he travels to Yamagata once or twice a year to buy "mingeihin.
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 2 titled Back cushion, bandori, accession number 9-23023, described as Traditional Japanese bandori intricately woven from linden bast ("shina"), sedge ("suge"), wild grapevine bark ("budo"), and cotton rags. The two shoulder straps are made of braided sedge interwoven with strips of black and maroon cotton rag. The straps are spaced barely 1.5" apart; at ends of straps, braid tapers into sedge cords attached at either side of cushion to loops made of wild grapevine bark. Cushion where it rests against back is U-shaped with vertical central opening; this inside layer of cushion is made from strands of rice straw lying taut side-by-side in a radial pattern. At the edge these strands continue into a single-plaited seam, with two thinner, parallel seams of grapevine bark. A net made from grapevine bark lies flat against the outside or "front" of the cushion and covers the central opening; a horizontal strap runs the entire width of the cushion, made of disparate strips of wild grapevine bark pushed through a central vertical loop. length - 27.5", width - 9.75", thickness - 2.5Hearst Museum object 2 of 2 titled Back cushion, bandori, accession number 9-23023, described as Traditional Japanese bandori intricately woven from linden bast ("shina"), sedge ("suge"), wild grapevine bark ("budo"), and cotton rags. The two shoulder straps are made of braided sedge interwoven with strips of black and maroon cotton rag. The straps are spaced barely 1.5" apart; at ends of straps, braid tapers into sedge cords attached at either side of cushion to loops made of wild grapevine bark. Cushion where it rests against back is U-shaped with vertical central opening; this inside layer of cushion is made from strands of rice straw lying taut side-by-side in a radial pattern. At the edge these strands continue into a single-plaited seam, with two thinner, parallel seams of grapevine bark. A net made from grapevine bark lies flat against the outside or "front" of the cushion and covers the central opening; a horizontal strap runs the entire width of the cushion, made of disparate strips of wild grapevine bark pushed through a central vertical loop. length - 27.5", width - 9.75", thickness - 2.5

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