Accession Number
2005/1.339

Title
Olive Nagoya-style obi with wax-resist dyed floral medallions in white, rose, green, and blue

Artist(s)
Japanese

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1930s-1940s

Medium & Support
olive colored silk with wax resist and embroidered patterns

Dimensions
185 1/16 in x 12 3/8 in (470 cm x 31.5 cm);29 15/16 in x 18 1/8 in x 6 5/16 in (76 cm x 46 cm x 16 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi

Label copy
Olive Nagoya-style obi with wax-resist dyed floral medallions in white, rose, green, and blue
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Woven kimono, such as the pink one displayed here, are worn with a Nagoya obi, a modified version of the heavy and long traditional obi. In Nagoya obi, the fabric that wraps around the body is sewn into a narrower strip and about a third of the fabric is left unsewn for tying. Thus, while the Nagoya obi’s dimensions and appearance when worn are quite similar to those of formal fukuro obi, which must be folded multiple times before being tied, they are lighter and easier to handle. The Nagoya obi is a relatively modern invention, created by a seamstress in the city of Nagoya in the late 1920s for use as casual wear. It originally became popular in the geisha quarters of Tokyo for use with informal kimono. From there it was adopted as casual wear for style-conscious urbanites. For modern women, the more comfortable Nagoya obi has become the preferred type because of its ease of use. Mother and business woman Iwata Shizuka owned many Nagoya obi, which, with woven kimono and haori, were essential parts of her office attire.
(Wrapped in Silk & Gold Exhibition, Summer 2010)

Subject matter
Nagoya-style wax-resist dyed obi.

Physical Description
Olive colored silk with wax-resist dyed (rokutsuzome) floral patterns in white, rose, green, and blue; floral patterns further embellished with embroidery originally in white thread, dyed at the same time as floral patterns. Embroidery thread sometimes shot with some strands of gold.

Primary Object Classification
Costume and Costume Accessories

Primary Object Type
obi

Additional Object Classification(s)
Textile

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
kimonos
obis