Rice straw, bark, cotton; indigo dyeexpand_more
The John R. Van Derlip Fund and the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation; purchase from the Thomas Murray Collectionexpand_more 2019.20.44
This style of straw coat (mino) was worn by residents of northern Japan to protect themselves from heavy rain and snowfall. A man made this fancy rain cape (date-gera) as a gift for his wife or fiancée to wear with pride to festive occasions. He used rice straw left over from rice cultivation and cotton for the oval-shaped shoulder piece, attaching a fringe of shredded tree bark strands along the edge. Further north, on Hokkaido, the indigenous Ainu would refine and spin material like this from elm bark’s inner layer to weave into cloth.
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