This is a very lovely half-width (han-haba) silk obi with a brocade-woven Persian-style roundel design. There is a dragon inside the roundel. Between the roundels is a floral design. The ground color is black and the roundel design is primarily red, with some yellow in the florals. The silk is stiff; not shiny.
Measurements: 134 in. (340.4 cm) long; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm) wide ...click for details
This is a very special formal tomesode kimono decorated with various famous views of Kyoto, all beautifully handpainted in the rice-paste resist "yuzen" technique. Depicted is the Golden Pavilion, Kiyomizu-dera, Toji Temple's four-storey pagoda, Higashiyama, etc.--all iconic sites from Japan's cultural capital. The colors are all subdued, leading me to believe that all was done with natural pigment/plant dyes (not w/chemicals). Gold and silver paint is generously applied throug ...click for details
This kimono is made of a special type of silk called "kihachijo" --the "ki" means yellow, and hachijo (-jima) refers to the island in which this specialized silk fabric is made. Hachijo-jima is a small island 290 kilometers from Tokyo, out in the Pacific (part of Izu island chain). For approx. 800 years, the residents of this island have been producing silk (since the Heian period!).
This is a very special raspberry red silk kimono made with handspun silk that was shibori tie-dyed (hand-tied). It has a design of ivy leaves with a somewhat random, all-over crackled ground motif.
Three different shibori tie-dye techniques were used: (1)the ground was done with "resist-wrapped spider-web" (kantera-maki kumo shibori); (2) the ivy leaf outline was done with stitching (ori-nui); (3) and the v ...click for details
This is a rare man's formal silk kimono, called a "noshime." It is a classical Japanese costume specially worn under a kamishimo ensemble (kataginu vest and hakama pants). Made of a high-quality habutae satin silk, and lined with a dark indigo-dyed silk. The plaid pattern, placed around the mid-section of the garment, is a special characteristic of noshime kimono. The sleeves are attached to the body of the garment; the sleeve openings are the same as for kimono. It has 3 large cre ...click for details
This is a very special kimono made of high quality crepe-woven ramie (chijimi) from Ojiya. This special fabric--Ojiya chijimi-- has been designated "national intangible cultural asset." The kimono is dyed a super dark blue, likely from plant indigo. It has a simple vertical pinstripe (white). Being a crepe, it has a subtle puckered texture (somewhat like seersucker). Difficult to appreciate from the photographs . . . This kimono is the essence of shibui (understated beauty). It dates ...click for details
This is an unlined summer kimono made with a stiff, shiny, taffeta-like "meisen" raw silk. The bold design--bamboo and tortoise shell--was done by printing the warp threads with a series of stencils prior to weaving. Each dye color represents one stencil. When the fabric is woven, the threads naturally shift slightly, giving the finished cloth a kasuri tie-dye look.
This is a lovely Japanese kimono obi (Nagoya-style) with a roundel design done via the rice paste-resist stenciling technique (katazome). It is made of a thick, nubby, handspun silk fabric--first dyed a soft beige-yellow, then the design was stencil-dyed over this. The multi-colored dyes (vermillion red, violet purple, ocher yellow-gold, and indigo blue--were applied by hand in a style that recalls Okinawan stencil-dyeing; a second color--for shading--was applied to some of the roundels. There a ...click for details
This is a man's formal (5-crested) silk kimono jacket (haori), made of high-quality satin silk (habutae). It has a spectacular image of Japan's most sacred Shinto shrine, Ise, which is set in a book-shaped cartouche. The image of Ise, set on the shrine compound, is finely brocade woven with silk and metallic threads. Very realistically done in a "romantic" style that was popular in the first half of the 20th century. ...click for details
This is a rare, hand stencil-dyed (katazome) Japanese obi sash made of a high-quality thick cotton fabric. It likely dates from the mid-20th century or earlier. The white areas in the design indicate where the rice paste was applied (with stencils). After the paste dries, the dyes are applied.
In excellent condition. This is a valuable collectible item for the Japanese textile collector. It would also make a wonderful ...click for details
