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Gift cover (fukusa) with design of the court dance Genjoraku (Looking at the Snake Music)
Gift cover (fukusa) with design of the court dance Genjoraku (Looking at the Snake Music)

Gift cover (fukusa) with design of the court dance Genjoraku (Looking at the Snake Music)

Place of OriginJapan
Date1880-1920
CultureJapanese
MaterialsSilk crepe, paste resist-dyed and painted with colored dyes, with silk and gold-wrapped thread embroidery
DimensionsH. 27 in × W. 26 3/16 in, H. 68.6 cm × W. 66.5 cm
Credit LineGift of Peter and Beverly Sinton
Object numberF2022.25.2
DepartmentJapanese Art
ClassificationsTextiles
On View
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Text Entries

WHAT’S THE STORY?
Many gift covers feature traditions associated with Japan’s imperial court. The design on this fukusa shows Genjoraku, a work of ancient Japanese court music (gagaku) in which the performer dances around a model of a snake. This theme may relate to the practice of eating snakes for medicinal reasons, or it might have originated in an incident from the life of Chinese emperor Xuanzong (685–762).

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
The crinkly fabric used for this gift cover is known as silk crepe or chirimen. It is the preferred textile for designs executed in the yuzen technique, which combines paste-resist dying and hand-painted details. Delicate touches of gold and silk embroidery appear throughout the picture.