[Handmade bunmawashi (compass) for white lines]

Description

1 compass : bamboo, metal, string, horsehair ; 3.875 in.

Handmade bunmawashi (compass) made of bamboo and metal with horsehair (?) paintbrush (2.5 in., 0.75 in. bristles) attached with string. Bamboo is split and jointed to make the compass; a tiny nail at one end serves as the pivot point. Bristles of the brush form a very fine point; white paint caked on.

History
Mrs. Shizu Kaigo used the compass to draw a circle with fine fude (brush) tip to make kamon or mon (Japanese family crest) on formal kimonos for the Japanese community in Hawaii. This compass was used for white lines, the other (2004.1.161) for black lines.

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).