sōberi 総縁

Lit. "overall border." An outer framing fabric surrounding a painting or calligraphy. The sōberi is used in various styles of mounting, including *bunjin hyōgu 文人表具, butusga hyōgu 仏画表具, *honzon hyōgu 本尊表具, *fukuro hyōgu 袋表具 and maru hyōgu 丸表具. In the case of butsuga hyōgu, the sōberi encloses the chūmawashi 中廻し (see *chūberi 中縁) which in turn encloses the painting or calligraphy honshi 本紙. In the case of the bunjin hyōgu, only the narrow side strips kosuji 小筋 and horizontal strips *ichimonji 一文字 separate the painting from the sōberi. The sōberi consists of upper and lower sections known as *jōge 上下, and fabric running down each side of the painting, called hashira 柱.