Small Container (Itoya Rinpo-te)

Among the famous textiles of Japan, a textile such as "Itoya Kinran" is one of the very few examples of fabrics woven with a double cloth construction called "fūtsū". Two different cloths consisting of a face cloth and back cloth combined in square shapes form a unique background pattern as seen in this textile. The term "Itoya kinran" is derived from the fact that the original textile was the property of a wealthy merchant "Itoya" at Sakai in the Muromachi Period(1358-1574). This textile is also called "Itoya rinpō kire" meaning a textile with ring patterns, as there is a small ring at the center of each roundel.It has been highly valued by the tea-masters. This textile is a reduced copy of the original design, but is modernized in color schemes and materials.