Matsunoki Posted October 21 Report Posted October 21 Coming up soon at auction in the UK is this large silk embroidered and painted scene depicting what? It looks great quality and Meiji would be my bet but what are they doing? Any ideas?……Piers??, anyone? Thanks! @Bugyotsuji Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted October 21 Report Posted October 21 Hmmm.... Nice! They look as though they are a village community making cotton wool 'wata' for stuffing bedding and winter clothing, etc.. Quote
Matsunoki Posted October 21 Author Report Posted October 21 36 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said: Hmmm.... Nice! They look as though they are a village community making cotton wool 'wata' for stuffing bedding and winter clothing, etc.. Thanks Piers. That makes sense but there sure are some puzzling stages to the process! What are the girls doing indoors with what looks like a huge violin bow, and then and there is another putting something through a hand operated carding machine? I find it really fascinating,and I have no doubt it’s a totally accurate depiction of whatever it is! 2 Quote
Yumso Posted October 21 Report Posted October 21 I think it's the cotton gin. You put the cotton ball inside, and it seperates the seed. Inside I believe they are doing the cleaning progress. Cotton ball itself isn't that soft and clean when you first pick from the plant. Maybe you could search something like "traditional cotton yarn making" at Youtube. 1 1 Quote
Matsunoki Posted October 21 Author Report Posted October 21 @Yumso @Bugyotsuji Mystery solved. Thanks to you both. Debating whether to try and buy it but the auction is a long way away and it’s in a glazed case so shipping is a worry. I just like unusual quirky things like this, they make you smile…..but I know a certain big London dealer likes them as well☹️ Quote
Jake6500 Posted October 23 Report Posted October 23 Bit late to the thread on this one but I concur with the answers of our fellow board members. The embroidery is depicting the various stages of Edo Period cotton production from picking to separating the cotton from the seed, weaving, etc. Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted October 23 Report Posted October 23 Cotton as 綿 ‘men’ was used for string, cloth weaving, etc. In the scene above however, they seem to be concentrating on bulk wata ワタ, which is the earlier process before spinning for thread/string. 1 Quote
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