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Introduction

Kesa

Japanese Buddhist Vestments from the Lucy T. Aldrich Collection
November 20, 1987 - February 28, 1988

The priests and patriarchs depicted in Japanese Buddhist art typically wear a cloth of patchwork draped over the outer robes. These colorful coverings actually are religious garments. They are called "kesa" and they find their origins far to the west, in India, where Buddhism began. Indian Buddhist monks begged bits of discarded cloth and patched them together into rectangles that they wrapped about themselves and wore as religious garments. These garments -- known in Sanskrit as kasaya -- were the ancestors of the Japanese kesa.

As Buddhism spread to China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhist thought and Buddhist arts responded to the different cultural aesthetic demands of its new followers. As it took root and grew in each country, this imported religion and its outward expressions adapted to native traditions and preferences. In a typically Japanese way, then, kesa takes the religiosity prescribed patchwork wrapper as an occasion for the use of rich fabrics and strong design.

This selection from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection includes some of the gems of the Museum's collection of Asian textiles, one of the finest in the United States.

Selected Objects

No Image Available

Japanese

Kesa and ohi, 1680 - 1786

Japanese

Kesa, 1680-1786

Japanese

Ohi, 1680-1786

Japanese Edo, Japan

Semi-formal Buddhist vestment (7-column kesa), 1700s-1800s

Japanese, Japan

Seven-column priest's robe with court-dance theme (kesa), 1736
No Image Available

Japanese

Kesa and ohi, 1603 - 1680

Japanese

Kesa, 1603-1680

Japanese

Ohi, 1603-1680

Japanese

Kesa and ohi

Japanese

Kesa, 1680-1786

Japanese

Ohi, 1680-1786

Japanese, Japan

Buddhist priest's robe (kesa), 1680-1786

Chinese

robe, 1736-1795

Japanese

Kesa, 1680-1786

Japanese

Kesa, 1603-1680

Japanese

Kesa, 1680-1786

Japanese

Kesa, 1603-1680

Japanese

kesa, 1680-1786
No Image Available

Japanese, Japan

Kesa and zagu, 1750-1850

Japanese

Kesa, 1750-1850

Japanese

Zagu, 1750-1850

More objects +

RISD Museum

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