Wrapping Cloth (Pojagi). early 1900s. Ramie patchwork. Neusteter Textile Collection: Textile Art department acquisition funds by exchange. 2012.286.

length: 27 in, 68.5800 cm; width: 27 1/2 in, 69.8500 cm

Avenir Institute of Textile Arts and Fashion

Textile Arts and Fashion-Asian

While elaborate multicolor silk patchwork pojagi were used to wrap gifts, this example, pieced together from recycled hand-woven summer clothing, was put to a more domestic use. It probably was a wrapper and carrier for food containers. Ramie, a bast fiber not unlike linen, imparts a lustrous sheen. The sheerness of the woven fabric imparts translucency to this geometric and surprisingly modern composition.

Purchased 2010 at an antique fair in Kyoto, Japan from an unknown Korean dealer by John Ruddy [Santa Fe, NM]; purchased August 2012 from John Ruddy by the Denver Art Museum

• "Cover Story," May 17, 2013 - April 27, 2014 (DAM)