Share This Page!
tsutsugaki-375
Close Window
| Item | Stunning Tsutsugaki matrimonial futon cover that features a Japanese stylized phoenix bird (Ho-o) sitting on a large branch of a paulownia tree with a water element at the bottom.
|
Age |
Early 1900s,
From Tokyo
|
| Fabric | 100% Indigo Cotton Base Homespun, Hand Woven. |
Size |
3.9 X 4.9 feet 120 X 150 cm Heavy-Medium Weight Thick fabric. 10.5 oz, 295 g 4separate panels were hand sewn together to create this textile. |
Condition |
Very good condition. Strong, bright colors. We have NOT washed this textile. 2 very well done patched areas. One small mended area. See Photos |
| Comments |
The Ho-o and the paulownia are intimately associated in Japanese legend: the Ho-o will only alight on the branches of this tree. The Japanese Ho-o is a symbol of peace and the rising sun, a bird whose song is particularly musical and auspicious. The bird's varied colored feathers represent the traditional virtues of truthfulness, propriety, righteousness, benevolence and sincerity; it is an auspicious bridal motif, hence treasured when it appears on tsutsugaki textiles. According to Japanese legend, the Ho-o appears rarely, and only to mark the beginning of a new era -- the birth of a virtuous ruler, for example. In alternative mythologies, the Ho-o appears only in peaceful and prosperous times (nesting, it is said, in paulownia trees), and hides itself when there is trouble. As the herald of a new age, the Ho-o descends from heaven to earth to do good deeds, and then it returns to its celestial abode to await a new era. It is both a symbol of peace (when the bird appears) and a symbol of disharmony (when the bird disappears). The Japanese Phoenix (Ho-o) should not be confused with the Phoenix found in the West -- that is a bird of completely different feathers and traditions. The Western Phoenix is a solitary creature -- only one of its kind. When it dies, it dies in flames, and from the ashes is born the next phoenix. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|