Pencil Container (Oshidori Karakusa-mon Nishiki)

On such occasions as the inauguration of the Todaiji Daibutsu or on the anniversary of Emperor Shomu’s death, a large number of banners of all sizes were hung on the temple pillars and elsewhere. These banners were decorated with precious brocade as shown by numerous examples still preserved in the Shosoin Repository. The original brocade from which this fabric was reproduced is the one used as the end decoration of one of the streamers a ttached to a banner. The design consists of a pair of mandarin ducks facing each other on a lotus blossom, the whole being surrounded by a floral scroll forming a circular pattern not symmetrical but in a pleasing balance. Strewn between circular patterns are floral scrolls in lozenge form. Our brocade is woven with a warp cloth weaving technique,l eaving richness of the original textile.