Detail: Bridal Sleeping Cover (Yogi)This wonderfully luxurious yogi is decorated with brilliant images of traditional good luck motifs commonly
known as takara zukushi (Collection of Treasures). Perhaps the most delightful and unusual image on this yogi--a
huge red snapper (tai ) accompanied by a fisherman's creel and fishing pole--decorates the lower left front. This
delicious fish is a popular good luck symbol because its name is a homonym of the word medetai, meaning auspicious.
Serving a dish featuring a whole tai was expensive, and reserved for special guests on an important occasion such
as a wedding feast. This majestic, realistically drawn red snapper humorously leans against a creel that is much
too small to hold it. This surprisingly lively, imaginative design--a tai "harvested" on an auspicious
bed cover--is from the hands of a talented country artisan, unrestricted by rules or fads that often controlled
the city craftsman. In the midst of these celebratory motifs, a large family crest of fujiwa-omodaka (wisteria
ring and water plantain) conspicuously advertises the status and wealth of the owner.
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