Maru Obi with Fans, Water Wheels, and Uchide no Kozuchi (Mallet of Good Fortune)
1911-1939
Scroll
Maru Obi with Fans, Water Wheels, and Uchide no Kozuchi (Mallet of Good Fortune)
1911-1939
Physical Qualities
Silk, silk and metallic-leafed paper wrapped supplementary wefts, 12 3/4 x 152 in. (32.4 x 386.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Sam Dell, Baltimore, in Honor of Geraldine Dell
Object Number
2015.328
Wide, stiff obi of complex silk woven with pattern depicting spread fan leafs, shell box with shells, curtain, and a revolving wheel that exchanges water buckets for uchide no kozuchi (the mallet of good fortune). Overlapping fan leaf patterns feature various designs, including kira hana (Chinese flower) within hexagonal and octagonal grids and larger florals contained within circular medallions. Supplementary wefts producing the patterns include orange, light orange, gold, green, yellow-green, blue, purple, black, peach, white, and gold metallic wrapped threads. These are on a cream ground. This obi is reversible with the same material folded along the entire length to create a wide, stiff, formal band.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2015; Sam Dell, Baltimore, by purchase (wife), 1987-1992
Inscribed: None
