Senninbari (Thousand Stitches)

Maker Henry Sugimoto (American, 1900 - 1990)

Date1942

Mediumoil, canvas

DimensionsH: 64.5 in, W: 51.5 in, Frame: 64.5 x 52 x 1.25 in

ClassificationsFine Arts

Credit LineGift of Madeleine Sugimoto and Naomi Tagawa, Japanese American National Museum

Object number92.97.140

DescriptionStretched and framed.;Image of a ghostly outline of Nisei soldier standing in salute as he looks down at a woman holding up a senninbari with a thousand stitches (scarf of remembrance). She in maroon top and black skirt stands in front of a barbed wire fence with sign, "Block 2," in the foreground. The white scarf has a tiger's face and Japanese characters among the stiches. A rattlesnake is coiled on the other side of the fence, lower left. Dirt and dry grasses extend past the watch tower with soldier to the green trees in the background. A grey object lies in the grass next to the tower. Above trees, white crosses with one American flag appear on a field of blue at center, with red gold sky to either side. (Very similar to the painting entitled "In Camp Jerome", also by Sugimoto 92.97.9.)