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Very rare and unusually large 19th century Japanese Fukusa. Profusely decorated with courting pheasants amid blossoms in silk thread. On a blue/green satin silk ground, the piece is lined with a golden brown silk, heavily embellished all over with hand painted gold flowers.
 
A strikingly beautiful textile, this fukusa has some discolouration now and one tassel missing but retains a huge amount of decorative value thanks to the wonderful design, colour choices and technical skill on display.
 
The Japanese textile artists of the Meiji period have never been bettered and this is a lovely example displaying tremendous skill. Please look at the extra images here, there is too much to show in just a few images.
 
About Fukusa:
These textiles were used in the ritual of gift giving, the gift being draped with the fukusa, admired then returned to the donor (except in the case of the aristocracy and senior officials, who would keep the textile). They were very valuable, with tassels added so they could be handled by the gift recipient without them touching the silk. The scene or motifs depicted on fukusa are chosen to indicate the occasion for which the gift is being given, this one may have been presented at a marriage.
 
132cm/52 inch square.
 
Condition: Discolouration to silk ground, (it looks like a water stain from placing a pot on the textile while it was folded, a circular impression in more or less the same position in each quarter). one tassel missing to corner. Very small areas of wear to the silk ground, worn through in one instance, less than 1mm hole. The reverse has lost the majority of it's gold, where the gold is missing the drawing/design is visible as a darker area against the ground. The embroidery is tight to the ground, clean and bright. There are a couple of loose threads (attached but not tight to the ground) on the male pheasants neck.
 
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