Bedcover (Japan), early 19th century

Bedcover made from five breadths of narrow fabric. Dark blue with soft shades of rose, yellow-orange, pale green and gray-violet. Design shows a large bird with widely-spread wings, long tail feathers and foliage. It is known as the Hou-ou Bird and the Paulownia Tree. The colors, now faded, were put in by hand after the ground was printed. The outlines of the bird’s wings and lines in the feathers are reserved in white.