Kimono, titled 'Myriad Green Leaves' by Furusawa Machiko (b.1933), figured silk with tie-dyed (shibori) and hand-painted decoration of dragonflies, flowers and clouds, Japan, 1992

Kimono by Furusawa Machiko of figured silk woven by Matsuo Kyoko of Saga Prefecture. The garment has a resist-dyed (shibori) and hand painted design in green, brown, blue and black of flowers, leaves and dragonflies against a lattice ground. The kimono is unlined.

Purchased. Registered File number 1991/2283.

This work was commissioned by Mr. Tawara of Gallery Hana, Bingoya, on behalf of the V&A.

FE422:1-1992
The following text is adapted from Faulkner, Rupert, Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-Garde, London: Laurence King Publishing, 1995. NAL Bibliographic Ref..No.: 58.DD.517:
'The sweeping design of softly rendered flowers, leaves and dragonflies set against a latticed background seen on this kimono was achieved through the combined use of shibori (resist dyeing) techniques and hand-painting. Furusawa was born and educated in Tokyo. During the 1950s, after an initial period when she thought she might become a painter, her growing interest in textiles led her into what has become a continuing involvement with the Japanese Folk Craft movement. Since 1971, when she married the head priest of a temple in Oita Prefecture, she has lived in Kyushu.
The lyricism of Furusawa's work is firmly rooted in the wide range of skills she has amassed over the years. The process by which this particular kimono was created was a long and complicated one. It began with the overall design being drawn onto the temporarily made up kimono with a pale blue tracing liquid (aobana) derived from the tsuyukusa plant (Commelina communis). The kimono was then disassembled to allow work to be carried out on the individual panels of cloth. The areas to be left white or coloured other than green were protected by being stitched around and gathered up, wrapped in plastic film, and tightly bound with thread. The fabric was dyed with a yellow dye derived from the kariyasu plant (Arthraxon hispidus) and then, after an intervening period to allow the yellow to stabilise, with indigo blue.
When the blue-over-yellow dyeing of the background was completed, the binding and stitching were undone and work progressed to the treatment of the leaves and dragonflies. The outlines and leaf-veins due to be left white were protected by a further round of stitching and gathering. Blue pigment applied by brush was then used to colour the leaves with stitch resisted veins. The areas around the dragonflies and remaining leaves were protected by being wrapped in plastic film and bound. This was followed by the repeated dipping of the individual sections of the fabric in a brown dye derived from the bark of the yamamomo tree (Myrica rubra). The binding and stitching having been undone, Chinese ink (sumi) dissolved in soya bean extract (gojiru) was used to paint in the flower petals and the veins of the brown leaves and to accentuate other parts of the design. Steam was used to straighten the fabric and to soften the shibori marks before the kimono was assembled in its final form.
The inspiration for much of Furusawa's work comes from what is known as tsujigahana, a distinctively Japanese textile form that was highly popular between the fourteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The majority of examples that survive today date from the latter part of the Momoyama period (1573-1615) and are characterised by richly coloured designs made up of soft edged shibori-dyed motifs highlighted with delicate ink painting. It is evident from this example of her work that Furusawa's interest lies not so much in recreating the tsujigahana style but in capturing its spirit of spontaneity rendered through sensitive and accomplished craftsmanship.'

The lyrical design of this kimono was created using a complicated and time-consuming process. Various areas of the cloth were protected by being stitched around, gathered up, wrapped in plastic and then tightly bound with thread before each dye was applied. Chinese ink, called sumi, was then used to paint in the flower petals and veins of the brown leaves and to accentuate other parts of the design. Furusawa derives her inspiration from tsujigahana, a Japanese textile form that was highly popular between the 14th and early 17th century.

FE.422:1-1992