About this artwork
The traditional Japanese bedding set, known as a futon, typically consists of a padded mattress and a quilted bedcover. the latter often incorporates a decorated cover that would have been made as part of a bride’s trousseau. This example bears an elaborate pattern of two phoenixes—a larger male in mid-flight prepares to join a smaller female on the branch of a Paulownia tree. The combination of a phoenix with a Paulownia tree symbolizes peace, sincerity, and benevolence—appropriate attributes for a wedding textile.
-A Global View: Recent Acquisitions of Textiles, 2012-2016, April 8-September 5, 2016
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Textiles
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Title
- Futon Cover (Futonji)
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Place
- Japan (Object made in)
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Date
- Made 1801–1900
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Medium
- Cotton, plain weave; hand-painted, resist dyed (tsutsugaki); four loom widths joined
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Dimensions
- 141.6 × 131.1 cm (55 3/4 × 51 5/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Jack Bulmash and Michael Schnur
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Reference Number
- 2014.1388
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/225808/manifest.json