Object History
This rich plum brown printed (haori) on (chirimen) silk for women was purchased by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli in 2019 from a dealer in London to enhance The Zay Initiative collection.
Object Features
This beautiful women’s haori constructed of chirimen silk is embellished with large floral motifs in (yuzen_print) technique. The floral motifs are very similar to another item in the collection (ZI2017.500485 ASIA) however, the latter was heavily hand embroidered.
Embellished with floral motifs on both sides of the sleeves and on either side of the front partition, this haori has five crests that testify that it was used as a formal piece. The floral motifs in shades of green with touches of blue, orange, scarlet, and yellow highlights are primarily of peonies symbolizing bravery, honour as well as good fortune. It has an equally lavishly decorative lining in a similar chirimen fabric.
The lining is printed in dual colour, the top is filled with similar floral motifs as the outside in the same range of colours, while the bottom of the outside is black. The floral patterns from the two seem to grow downwards into the black area.
It is worth noting that the economic growth and increase in disposable income amongst the merchant class much of which were spent on clothing resulted in some dramatic fashion trends. The existing sumptuary laws that limited the embellished haori to the wealthy upper class led the merchant-class men in Japan to wear plain haori with lavish linings a trend that is still in practice today. Additionally in the early 1800s the Japanese courtesans – geisha – in the Hanamachi of Fukogawa Tokyo who were known for their uniqueness in fashion started wearing the haori over their kimonos, thus popularising it amongst the women. Until then haori was only worn by men. By the 1930s, it had become a common practice for women to wear haori and has remained so even today.
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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