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Unknown Maker, Japanese

Nō Theater Costume (Karaori)

Description

Maker

Unknown Maker, Japanese

Culture

Japanese

Title

Nō Theater Costume (Karaori)

Year

1800-1825

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

silk, gold leaf, paper (fiber product)

Dimensions

149.9 cm (59 inches) (center back length)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

35.480

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

Patterns and Poetry: Nō Robes from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection

No robes from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. A beautiful and informative publication on the RISD Museum's collection of costumes for the Japanese No theater. This collection, arguably the finest in the United States, was assembled largely on the spot in Japan during the 1920's by Rhode Islander Lucy Truman Aldrich, sister-in-law of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The 47 robes came to the Museum by gift and bequest from Miss Aldrich herself and represent all categories of No costume. Four essays document the history of the collection, including Miss Aldrich's encounter with Chinese bandits; poetic allusion in the imagery of the robes; the traditional methods of making No robes; and the evolution of No costume over 650 years. Individual entries with color illustrations discuss each of the 47 objects.

Susan Anderson Hay, Curator of Costumes and Textiles, RISD Museum of Art Monica Bethe, Independent Scholar, Japan Helen M. Nagata, former Curator of Asian Art, RISD Museum of Art Iwao Nagasaki, Curator and Scholar at the National Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Asian Art Galleries
Jun 10, 2014

Label copy

In this loom-woven pattern, fans depicting pine, bamboo, and peony are strewn across willow branches. Nō theater is closely linked to classical literature and poetry, and this imagery might suggest to audiences a verse that includes words with the same sounds as those for bamboo grass (sasa) and pine (matsu). 

This poem is from the Kokin Wakashū, an anthology of waka poetry from around 920 CE.

sasame ni

toki matsu ma ni zo

hi wa henuru

kokorbase o ba

hito ni mietsutsu

Though I have shown him 

the true state of my feelings, 

the days have slipped by

while I have waited calmly

expecting to see him soon. 

“Ki no Menoto,” Kokin Wakashū, no. 454, translation by Helen Craig McCullough

Patterns and Poetry
Noh Robes from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection
Oct 21, 1994 – Jan 22, 1995
Poetry in Pattern
Selections from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection of Noh Costumes
Jun 09, 1989 – Sep 03, 1989
Poetry in Pattern
Selections from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection of Noh Costumes
Oct 10, 1987 – Nov 04, 1987

Label copy

Scattered fans of pine, bamboo and peony, cast across a pattern of weeping willow branches, recall a verse using words that have the same sounds as those for bamboo grass (sasa) and pine (matsu):

sasame ni

toki matsu ma ni zo

hi wa henuru

kokorbase o ba

hito ni mietsutsu

Though I have shown him

the true state of my feelings,

the days have slipped by

while I have waited calmly

expecting to see him soon.

Ki no Menoto, Kokin Wakashu, no 454. Translation by Helen Craig McCullough, Kokin Wakashu (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985) p. 108.

Japanese No Robes
Oct 10, 1986 – Nov 04, 1987

Related Publications

Related Publications

  • Books

Patterns and Poetry: Nō Robes from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection

No robes from the Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. A beautiful and informative publication on the RISD Museum's collection of costumes for the Japanese No theater. This collection, arguably the finest in the United States, was assembled largely on the spot in Japan during the 1920's by Rhode Islander Lucy Truman Aldrich, sister-in-law of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The 47 robes came to the Museum by gift and bequest from Miss Aldrich herself and represent all categories of No costume. Four essays document the history of the collection, including Miss Aldrich's encounter with Chinese bandits; poetic allusion in the imagery of the robes; the traditional methods of making No robes; and the evolution of No costume over 650 years. Individual entries with color illustrations discuss each of the 47 objects.

Susan Anderson Hay, Curator of Costumes and Textiles, RISD Museum of Art Monica Bethe, Independent Scholar, Japan Helen M. Nagata, former Curator of Asian Art, RISD Museum of Art Iwao Nagasaki, Curator and Scholar at the National Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Use & Feedback

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Japanese
Nō Theater Costume (Karaori), 1800-1825
Silk and gold-leafed paper; discontinuous supplementary weft patterning
149.9 cm (59 inches) (center back length)
Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich 35.480

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