Japanese

Heavy-weave box-sleeved garments known as atsuita are worn under cloaks by actors playing male roles in Nō theater. Featuring Buddhist wheels (rinbō) and arrows inside standing screens, this bold design is enhanced by gold triangle (uroko) patterns on a ground of alternating green and orange blocks. The robe’s military theme, signaled by the arrows, suggests it may have been commissioned by a feudal lord known as a daimyo. This work represented the owner’s social status and wealth, and the synergy of military traditions and aesthetic refinement that characterized the daimyo culture.

Garments were hung flat or draped over clothing racks like this one decorated in designs of free-flowing floral vines.