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Japanese, Japan

Kimono (katabira), early 1800s

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Japanese

Title

Kimono (katabira)

Year

early 1800s

Medium

Silk, hemp; plain weave, resist dyed, embroidered

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • ramie

Techniques

  • plain weave,
  • embroidery,
  • embroidering,
  • embroidered,
  • yuzen-dyeing

Place

Japan

Type

  • Fashion,
  • Costume

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.061

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Nuance in Nature

February 16 - July 8, 2007

The motifs depicted on this adult woman’s kimono signify the plants or grasses of autumn. The large pine tree with bush clover and pinks; an insect cage or bird-scarer for noisemaking insects such as crickets; and a flock of sparrows are key motifs for an early autumn kimono. The sparrow is the subject of a popular Japanese folktale, “The Sparrow with the Cut Tongue.” In the story, it exemplifies the virtue of repaying one’s obligations. A common virtuous pairing in poetry is the sparrow and bamboo. In this kimono, sprigs of bamboo are embroidered just beneath the birds.

Bush clover is not seen on any other object in the exhibition. Like the cherry blossom, bush clover is a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life and thus appropriate for the end of summer. Etiquette allowed one to wear summer-weight kimono even during the month of October, because it was not unusual for the weather to be extremely warm in some areas of Japan during autumn.

The Applied Image

March 11 - June 21, 1998

This white summer kimono of ramie is patterned using satin stitch and couching in images from the natural world; however, the use of space is very different from that seen in the Chinese clothing. The shapes are larger and more randomly placed. Long and short satin stitch is used to create realistic texture in the feathers of the birds at the top of the kimono.

Of Clover and Chrysanthemums

September 15 - December 10, 1995

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Kimono (katabira) with the accession number of 13.061. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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