Storage bag (shifuku) for tea-ceremony utensil

Object Details

• Description

  Light blue silk background with numerous motifs throughout: flower and branch with leaves, small blossoms, and green and white butterflies and flowers along with silver and white flowers. There is a gold silk rope drawstring. The interior is lined with white silk.

• Provenance

  ?-1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] This bag once held a ceramic owned by Charles Lang Freer but was separated from that ceramic at an unknown time for an unknown reason, most likely after Freer's collection was brought to Washington, DC (see note 2).

  [2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920, upon the completion of the Freer Gallery of Art.

  Research Completed on March 23, 2022

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Freer Gallery of Art Study Collection, Smithsonian Institution

• Type

  Costume and Textile

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1890s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Tea, Art, Animals, Insects, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Flowers, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Butterflies

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Costume, Textiles