Kobukusa

Kobukusa

A ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, is a small ‘square’ of fine silk fabric used to support a cha-wan, 茶碗, tea-bowl, cha-ire, 茶入, tea-receptacle, or cha- shaku, 茶杓, tea-scoop, or other prized object. The dimensions of each of the kobukusa presented here are 5 x 5.3 sun kane-jaku or 4 x 4.24 sun kujira-jaku, unless otherwise noted.

 

Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, blue silk with woven designs of “un-kaku”, 雲鶴, cloud-crane, and Kanji, Korea. Fabricated by Glenn Sōrei Pereira, Boston, Mass.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, black silk kin-ran, 金襴, gold-brocade, with gold embroidery of the Sanskrit character for Fu-dō Myō-ō, 不動明王, Not-move Bright-king; often used for the jacket worn by a nin-gyō, 人形, person-form, doll of the Buddhist warrior monk, Ben-kei, 弁慶, Distinguished-joy. Fabricated by Glenn Sōrei Pereira, Boston, Mass.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, white silk damask with design of Hōrin- Kin-ran, 法輪金襴, Law-ring Gold-brocade, with gold embroidery design of the Buddhist Wheel of the Law and clouds; often used for the hakama, 袴, culottes, worn by a nin-gyō, 人形, person-form, doll of the Buddhist warrior monk, Ben-kei, 弁慶, Distinguished-joy. Fabricated by Glenn Sōrei Pereira, Boston, Mass.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, golden brown and gold thread fabric, Mei-butsu Oshidori Don-su, 鴛鴦緞子, Mandarin duck Damask-of, fabricated by Kita-mura Toku-sai, 北村徳斎, North-town Virtue-abstain, Kyōto.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, pale green and gold thread silk with pattern of usagi Kara-kusa, 兎唐草, hare Tang-grass, shō-ha don-su, 紹巴緞子, introduce-comma damask. Gift of Christy Sōei Bartlett, San Francisco, Calif.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, blue silk with pattern of Fuku Ju Kinran, 福寿金襴, Fortune-longevity Gold-brocade. The Kanji are set in eight-lobed roundels on a background of checkered field of ichi-matsu, 市松, city-pine.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, blue silk,“Shi-kami Chō-ju-mon Nishiki”, 獅噛鳥獣文錦, Beast-bird-motif Brocade, fabricated by Tatsu-mura, 龍村, Dragon-town, Kyōto. Mongolian design inspired by a jacket worn by Hideyoshi.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, Mei-butsu 名物, Name-thing, Niwatori shō-ha don-su,鶏紹巴緞子, Chicken introduce-comma damask-of; fabricated by Kita-mura Toku-sai, 北村徳斎, North-town Virtue-abstain, Kyōto. Gift of Vesla Frank, New York, NY.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, silk square named “Rikyū Kan-tō”, 利休間道, Rikyū Interval-way, by Toku-sai, 徳斎, Virtue-abstain, Kyōto. The kanji, 帛, is the old character for silk as well as cloth. The ‘gray’ color is called “Rikyū nezumi”, 鼠, rat, because the rat is gray. See below enlarged detail to show colors of weave.

Enlarged detail of ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, ‘gray’ silk “Rikyū̄ Kantō”.

Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, silk fabric of various brown thread design of “Shi-shi-kari-mon Nishiki”, 獅子狩文錦, Lion-of-hunt-motif Brocade, design inspired by an ancient fabric at Hō-ryū-ji, 法隆寺, Law-noble-temple, Nara; kobukusa fabricated by Kita-mura Toku-sai, 北村徳斎, North-town Virtue-abstain, Kyōto. Gift of Vesla Frank, New York, NY. The design is based on a 6th – 8th century Sasanian Persian motif of men on horseback hunting lions with bows and arrows. Reverse side is plain, medium brown silk fabric.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, blue and white print pattern of lobsters in waves, created by Imai Grace for the 60th anniversary of Urasenke Tea in Boston, Mass.
Ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze, multicolor stripe silk fabric with damask designs of good luck symbols, Korea. Fabricated by Glenn Sōrei Pereira, Boston, Mass.
Go-shiki maku, 五色幕, five-color curtain, hung around the exterior of a Buddhist temple in Japan.