128/1996

Collection

Textiles

Brief description

Textile and cane parasol with a design of stylised daisies and foliage on a red ground, probably made in Japan c.1900.

Object name

parasol

Object number

128/1996

Production date

c.1900 (manufactured)

Production place

Japan (manufactured)

Period

Victorian (1837-1901)

Material

cane
leather
textile

Technique

glued
woven

Physical description

This parasol has a cane frame, and is made from a textile, possibly cotton, with a red ground, decorated with stylised daisies in white, pink and pale blue, with dark blue stylised foliage. The top of the parasol is painted black, while the tip of the handle is also painted black with gold decoration in imitation of japanning. The pole is painted in imitation of bamboo. There is a leather loop around the handle.

Dimensions

Height: 52.1cm

Website keywords

ornaments

Label

Label text, Geffrye Museum, date unknown:
Parasol, Silk and Cane, Probably from Japan, c1900

Label text for the exhibition At Home with the World, Geffrye Museum (20 March 2012- 9 September 2012):

Parasol
Textile and cane
Probably made in Japan, about 1900

The nineteenth-century vogue for decorating rooms with Japanese ornaments often centred around the fireplace. Fans were displayed on mantelpieces and parasols were poked into hearths, though the newspaper the Essex Standard cautioned on 6 July 1878:‘ …nor can we endorse the idea of Japanese parasols…recommended as so artistic and fashionable, where a fire is burning, as by any means safe’