Cloth: cotton and paper; yoko-gasuri (weft ikat)expand_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 2019.20.76
Travel capes are called bōzugappa in Japanese, which means “priest’s raincoat.” They were modeled on capes worn by Portuguese missionary priests, who arrived in Japan in 1549. While the prefix “bōzu” is Japanese in origin, “gappa” is derived from the Portuguese ”capa,” meaning “cape.” Between the outer layers of cotton cloth, these capes usually incorporate a layer of mulberry paper treated with persimmon tannin. Made from the fermented juice of unripe persimmon fruits, this substance is applied to the paper in successive layers, giving it a leathery toughness and flexibility. It also makes the paper waterproof. For a traveler on the open road, capes provided a measure of protection from wind and rain and also offered some warmth.
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