Object History
This beautiful ivory silk (damask) (kimono) in (satin) weave was purchased by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli from Kerry Taylor Auctions in 2017 to wear, eventually, it was added to The Zay Initiative collection.
Object Features
This is a beautiful silk (uchikake_kimono) in ivory satin damask with long sleeves and padding. It is embellished with (satin_stitch), (french_knot), and (couching) embroidery styles and features five roundel crests, four in the front and one at the back.
The field of the uchikake is embellished primarily with couching embroidery in gold metal threads depicting auspicious flora and fauna with deep symbolic meaning to Japanese culture.
It features the bamboo – sho – the pine – chiko – and the plum – bai – motifs that symbolise perseverance and renewal. Apart from that it also features a total of five tortoises symbolising longevity, support, and good luck, and cranes that symbolise honour, fortune, and loyalty. All these are mostly depicted with couching embroidery with swathes of satin_stitch embroidery in silk floss threads of various colours for filling.
A corded hanging knot motif is also repeated a few times prominently in red but also in ivory silk floss threads possibly a bow knot – cho musibi kiri – a type of knot that can be tied multiple times and signifies an encore to happy occasions in life like childbirth and promotion at work etc.
The lining of the uchikake_kimono was regrettably changed from its original orange to a green silk damask with (paisley) patterns when first worn by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli.
While the origin of certain techniques and methods in textiles like satin_stitch embroidery can be traced to China, and its spread across the world could be attributed to the Silk Road, other similar techniques and styles are believed to have originated independently in different regions of the world almost simultaneously in human history possibly from necessity and convenience.
Though The Zay Initiative is concerned mainly with the dress and adornment heritage of the Arab world, it does include in its collection articles from areas outside the region. These tend to be collected to illustrate specific shared elements and influences attesting that the Arab world never existed in a vacuum. It constantly drew, and continues to draw, inspiration and influences from the cultures it comes in contact with be it through trade or geopolitical circumstances, especially those countries within the old silk route.
Therefore, one cannot but draw parallels between many techniques used in such garments, such as (couching) and thread knotting techniques (macrame), or flat metal adornment (talli), that are quite similar to those found in different parts of the Arab region.
The kimono, in particular, displays similarities that can be drawn with the pattern of Arab women’s overgarment or the (thawb), common to the Gulf region, constructed of three uncut panels of broad clothes forming the central body panel and the side sleeve panels very similar in shape to the kimono.
Links
- Morishima, Yuki, et al. Kimono Refashioned: Japan’s Impact on International Fashion. USA, Asian Art Museum, 2018.
- Kahlenberg, Mary Hunt. Asian Costumes and Textiles: From the Bosphorus to Fujiama. Italy, Skira, 2001.
- Liddell, Jill. The Story of the Kimono. USA, E P Dutton, 1989.
- Dalby, Liza Crihfield. Kimono: Fashioning Culture. Reaktion Books, 1993.
- Gluckman, Dale Carolyn and Sharon Sadako Takeda. When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1996.
- Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk. 27 Aug. – 25 Oct. 2020, V&A South Kensington, London https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/kimono-kyoto-to-catwalk
- Gluckman, Dale Carolyn. “Liza Dalby. Kimono: Fashioning Culture.:Kimono: Fashioning Culture.” Museum Anthropology, vol. 19, no. 1, Mar. 1995, pp. 79–81. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1525/mua.1995.19.1.79
- “Meisen Kimono From HALI 184 – HALI.” HALI, 24 July 2015, hali.com/news/meisen-kimono.
- Kimono Style: Edo Traditions to Modern Design: The John C. Weber Collection. USA, Met Publications, www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Kimono_Style
- Kimono Refashioned. 8 Feb. – 5 May, 2019, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/kimono-refashioned/
- Takeda, Sharon Sadako. Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 49, no. 2, 1994, pp. 245–47. JSTOR,https://doi.org/10.2307/2385177. Accessed 10 May 2023.
- Guth, Christine. Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, 1994, pp. 518–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/133209. Accessed 10 May 2023.
- Richard, Naomi Noble. “Nō Motifs in the Decoration of a Mid-Edo Period Kosode.” Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 25, 1990, pp. 175–83. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1512899. Accessed 10 May 2023.
- Kramer, Elizabeth. “Review of ‘Kimono: A Modern History.’” Reviews in History, School of Advanced Study, 2015. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14296/rih/2014/1787.
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