tan colored straw surface, woven, with fringed edges; blue and cream decorative designs at top 'shoulder' area, as well as in bottom curve and bottom flap that extends from lower center

Festive backpack pad (iwai-bandori) made in Yamagata Prefecture, late 19th-early 20th century

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Like the straw cape nearby, this garment is a more artful version of a simple tool. Backpack pads were utilitarian equipment made for both protection from the weather and to provide a soft layer between a person’s body and a heavy load. Finely woven examples like this one, which uses cotton thread to bind rice straw in flat, decorative patterns, were made to mark a new marriage, specifically the moment when a bride’s dowry is carried to her new husband’s home. The indigo-dyed cotton designs reinforce this association: the slanted diamond-shaped pattern, called “arrow” (yabane) because it resembles the feathered fletching on an arrow, communicates the idea of the bride’s irreversible movement from her parents’ house to her in-laws’.

Details
Title
Festive backpack pad (iwai-bandori) made in Yamagata Prefecture
Role
Maker
Accession Number
2019.20.43
Catalogue Raisonne
Murray et al. 2018, pl. 37
Curator Approved

This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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tan colored straw surface, woven, with fringed edges; blue and cream decorative designs at top 'shoulder' area, as well as in bottom curve and bottom flap that extends from lower center