Item HT 43070 Handkerchief - Geisha on Seat, Beige Silk, Japan, circa 1933-1943

Summary

This silk handkerchief features a printed image of a geisha seated beneath a cherry blossom tree on a blanketed bench

The handkerchief may have been made in Japan for European/American export or appeared at the Japanese Pavilion in the 1933 Chicago World Fair, where other handkerchiefs from this collection were acquired.

It belonged to Emily Hannah Francis, of Garden City, and was part of a collection of 145 souvenir and commemorative handkerchiefs put together by Emily, sent to her by pen friends from around the world, up to her death in 1943.

Physical Description

Heavy salmon-pink silk handkerchief with machine-stitched edge and printed image. Image is of the back of a Japanese woman, seated on a blanketed bench under a lantern, looking at cherry blossoms. She is wearing kimono and decorative hair pieces. She holds a fan.