Japanese Shikibukusa - Red Silk Kinran with Yukiwa Crest

This exquisite shikibukusa (敷帛紗 | also known as a dashibukusa - 出し帛紗) is made from a heavy red silk kinran (金襴), a style of gilded silk using foils and metallic threads. The design features a yukiwa (雪輪 - snowflake crest) family crest among a field of other snowflakes. The more circular shaped snowflake, as seen in the centre of the cloth on the first image, is the yukiwa.

This is the family crest of the current Edosenke (江戸千家) grandmaster, Kawakami Kansetsu (川上閑雪). This shikibukusa comes in its original kiribako (桐箱 - wooden paulownia box).

Shikibukusa/dashibukusa are used in many tea schools when serving koicha, or presenting precious utensils to the guests. They are roughly the same size as normal fukusa. Depending on the school, the smaller kobukusa may be used in place of a shikibukusa

Dimensions:

27.3cm (10.7in) - width
27.7cm (10.9in) - height

Condition: Like new

This vintage Japanese item ships from the United States