TAC Exclusive: Special Guided Tour of the Fukusa Collection at Mills College
Tuesday, May 9, 10:30 AM at Mills College Museum, Oakland California
$25 | Open to current TAC members| Tour is full
A collection of Japanese gift covers, fukusa, dating from the Edo Period (1603-1868), was presented to the Mills College Art Museum in 1935 by the son of well-known Japanese collector and textile connoisseur Shojiro Nomura. Fukusa were used by the aristocracy and samurai (and later by wealthy merchants) to cover important gifts – often presented on lacquered trays in elaborate gift-giving ceremonies. They are made from silk that was finely and imaginatively decorated by expert crafts people. Some were decorated with sumptuous embroidery, others with paste-resist dye techniques or hand-painted designs, while others were made from elaborate tapestry weave or weft brocade (nishiki) fabrics. The richness of the decoration attested to the wealth, social status, and aesthetic sensibility of the gift giver. Peter Sinton will guide us through the highlights of this collection. He is a collector of fukusa, and has presented talks on fukusa for TAC’s Ethnic Textile Study Group, and for the Asian Art Museum’s Society for Asian Art.
For more information and to pre-register for this special member tour, please contact us at tac@famsf.org
Image Courtesy Mills College: 1954.153: Japanese fukusa, A Dutch Trading Vessel, 1764-1771, embroidered satin, lined and framed with red crepe, Collection Mills College Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Nomura
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