Kimono, figured satin silk (rinzu) with ink painting (kaki-e), stencil imitation tie-dyeing (surihitta) and embroidery in silk and metal threads with a design of bamboo and characters, Japan, 1780-1820

Kimono (kosode) of white figured satin (rinzu) of 1/4 weft-faced figure of key fret, and flowers on 4/1 warp-faced ground.
The all-over vertical design is of bamboo and across the shoulders back and front are characters. These come from a number of different poems in the 'Poems of Congratulation' section of the Kokinshu anthology (compiled about 905 AD) and include wishes for long life, and making reference to the auspicious crane and turtle. Both the bamboo and the characters are depicted with embroidery in orange-red, green and metal-wrapped silk threads, black ink which is painted directly in the cloth, and stenci resist-dyeing which is used to imitate tie-dyeing. The garment is lined with scarlet plain weave silk and there is a small wadded hem. The garment has been altered at some point in its history, probably in the Meiji period when kimono such as this came on to the open market.

Purchased. Registered File number 1982/1022.

This kimono has been decorated using ink, embroidery and stencil-dyeing. Nature provides the main source for the motifs used in Japanese art and bamboo, which features here, is an especially popular subject. Across the shoulders of the kimono are various characters taken from the 'Poems of Congratulation' in the 10th-century Kokinshu anthology. Incorporating the written word into the design of the kimono would have demonstrated the literary discernment of the wearer.

FE.106-1982