Image
Japanese
Nō theater costume (atsuita), 1800-1850
Description
About
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.
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Projects & Publications
Publications
Exhibition History
Exhibition History
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 Nō theater costume (atsuita) with the accession number of 35.477. 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.
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