Kinpu Envelope Holder (Shokko Nishiki)

Shokko Nishiki originally means a red brocade woven at a mill in Chengdu, capital city of Shu Dynasty China (221-263 AD). The brocade had long been known for its beauty in ancient China. Later, the term came to be applied to a particular geometrical pattern, regardless of the origin of the fabric. At Horyu-ji temple, Nara, Japan, there are preserved two kinds of Shokko Nishiki, designated as Important Cultural Assets, one with a floral design in squares and the other a geometric pattern, both on a red ground. This piece is a reproduction of the Shokko Nishiki which is supposed to have been made in China in the 14th Century and handed down at a House of Maeda, a grand feudal lord in the Edo Period (1600-1868 AD). It is excused as warp-patterned brocade with a sophisticated color scheme.