fukusa (ceremonial gift-wrapping cloth)

fukusa (ceremonial gift-wrapping cloth) , late 1700s or early 1800s, Edo period (1600–1868)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: stem stitch; embroidering; satin; silk; satin stitch; crepe; couching; gold thread

Credit line: Gift in memory of James H. Walker Jr., by his family

Accession number: 1993.0354

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
“Flowers, Dragons and Pine Trees: Asian Textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art,” Nov-2005, Mary Dusenbury
Each of these fukusa was part of a bride’s trousseau, made for her use in the extensive formal gift-giving that surrounded her wedding. The gift, perhaps something given in return for a wedding gift received, was set on a lacquer tray and covered with a fukusa for presentation to the recipient. Later, the fukusa and tray were returned to the bride with a small gift tucked beneath the covering.
The shell-matching game here has additional layers of meaning. Images of pine (the spoken word matsu means both “pine” and “to wait with anticipation”) and plum (ume, with a homophone meaning of “birth”) combine to convey auspicious wishes for the birth of children to the newlyweds.