furoshiki cloth, Japan, late Meiji (circa 1910), cm 100x107. Furoshiki were (and still are to some extent) wrapping cloths used when carrying small personal belongings, or to eventually wrap a gift to be presented. They have usually plain ground and display a large family crest (komon) in the centre as an identification tool. The present lot shows the design of a bold butterfly on a dark indigo ground, and a smaller komon bottom left. Three joined panels of hand spun, hand woven cotton, dyed in the tsutsugaki technique. Blue ‘sashiko’ stitches (unfortunately not clearly visible in the pictures) have been added in the four corners, as often is the case with older pieces. The cloth has been clearly used over the years, and bears visible signs of that (a couple of tiny holes, some fading, etc) but this just adds to its casual charme, we think.