Dark blue-ground kimono with white ikat (kasuri) pattern made in Niigata Prefecture, late 19th-early 20th century
Unknown Japaneseexpand_more
Cloth: ramie (Echigo-jōfu); tate-yoko gasuri (double ikat)expand_more
The John R. Van Derlip Fund and the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation; purchase from the Thomas Murray Collectionexpand_more 2019.20.59
Not on Viewexpand_more
Material: Ramie from Echigo (Echigo-jōfu)
Bast fibers like hemp were frequently used for the clothing of commoners; however, the wealthy also wore bast clothing during the summer months. Called Echigo-jōfu, literally “superior cloth from Echigo,” garments made from ramie—a form of bast fiber—were extremely fine. The earliest record of ramie fabrics produced in Echigo Province (present-day Niigata Prefecture) in north-central Japan dates from 749; production reached its height in the middle of the Edo period (1603–1868).
Ramie is a plant in the nettle family, its fibers twisted into threads before being woven by hand. After dyeing, the wet fabric was stretched across the snow-covered fields for over a week to be “bleached” by the sun and to tighten the weave. To demonstrate the fabric’s fine quality, an ancient test required a 13-inch-wide bolt to be run through the square hole of a coin (less than half an inch).
Details
- Title
- Dark blue-ground kimono with white ikat (kasuri) pattern made in Niigata Prefecture
- Role
- Maker
- Accession Number
- 2019.20.59
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Murray et al. 2018, pl. 99
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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