Accession Number
2005/1.359

Title
Summer crested kimono with orchid design on purple crackled ground (hibiware)

Artist(s)
Minagawa Gekka

Object Creation Date
circa 1950

Medium & Support
crepe silk with wax-resist pattern, hand-painted designs, and embroidery

Dimensions
59 7/16 in x 53 1/8 in (151 cm x 135 cm);59 7/16 in x 53 1/8 in (151 cm x 135 cm);29 15/16 in x 18 1/8 in x 6 5/16 in (76 cm x 46 cm x 16 cm);20 11/16 in (52.5 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi

Label copy
These magnificent kimono were created by Minagawa Gekka, one of the greatest innovators in modern textile art. Gekka’s work is characterized by exotic motifs and complex techniques. Here, he drew the bursting tropical flowers and the family crest in paste and then dyed the fabric with base colors. Next, he added the crackled-ice pattern using an age-old wax-resist technique. After the paste was washed away to expose the white silk, he hand painted the flowers in colorful shades (white lines around the patterns are unpainted). Finally, he added embroidery in various metallic and velvet threads.
The original owner of these kimono was a pioneering female executive in mid-twentieth-century Tokyo who ran a successful real estate business. She and her four sisters ordered their kimono from prestigious shops that dealt with Kyoto manufacturers, and they often wore striking identical Gekka outfits.
(Label for UMMA Japanese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)

Subject matter
Orchids are traditionally considered as symbols of virtuous person in East Asian cultures. But the colorful orchid flowers in this kimono are cultivated kinds, more recent imports to Japan; their flamboyant appearance conveys exotic feeling.

Physical Description
It is a grayish purple silk crepe kimono with wax-resist patterns, hand-painted design and metallic threads embroidery. The kimono is in full length and has elongated sleeves. The fabric is dyed with purple, leaving the family crest under the collar and the floral design part white. The dark purple scale pattern is added using wax-resist technique. Then the design of multiple kinds of plants is hand-painted with white, red, yellow, pale and blue green, and black colors. The half bottom of the family crest is also dyed with pink. There are mix of tropical flowers and foliage including four kinds of orchids, gladiolus, ferns, and ginger in red, yellow, green, purple, black and white hue. Embroidery is added in various metallic threads around the contours of flowers and leaves.

Primary Object Classification
Costume and Costume Accessories

Primary Object Type
kimono

Additional Object Classification(s)
Textile

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
embroidery (visual works)
kimonos
lost-wax process