RARE & BEAUTIFUL, JAPANESE VINTAGE, BLACK & MULTI-COLOURED, CHIRIMEN SILK, FORMA, SPECIAL OCCASION, FURISODE KIMONO with WONDERFUL DESIGN OF TRADITIONAL FLORAL FANS & CLOUNDS with GOLD THREAD EMBROIDERY
EXCELLENT VINTAGE CONDITION
You are offered a breath-taking vintage Japanese wedding furisode kimono. Due to the magnificent beauty of the elaborate work in these kimonos, they make a very dramatic display as a wall hanging. I use a similar type of kimono as a Christmas Wall Decoration.
This kimono is made from Chirimen kinsha silk. This is a high end silk used for special occasion wear and characterised by being fairly soft and having a subtle crinkle like crepe. The feel is mid weight, fairly soft, only slightly lustrous with a nice soft and heavy drape.
The main background colour is black.
The exterior of this gorgeous wedding furisode has a magnificent design depicting traditional Japanese fans, clouds and botanical motifs.
I think the whole pattern has been hand painted by yuzen dye technique. This is a high end technique where the outlines are painted in fine lines of dye resist product, which allows the coloured dyes to be added without them running outside the outlines.
There are many large hand fans. Many are decorated with or surrounded by traditional Japanese plants and flowers. These include chrysanthemums, peonies, paulownia, tachibana (a type of citrus), and plums blossom.On the back skirt one of the fans has a tsuzumi hand drum, a motif associated with celebrations.
There are also elongated clouds called 'egasumi' meaning 'haze'. These are again decorated with traditional Japanese motifs. There are some ancient Japanese patterns including hexagon called 'kikko' symbolizing long life as they look like the pattern on a tortoise shell.
There are divided ovals called 'shippou' symbolizing 7 treasures.
There are little broken squares/rectangles and I think this is an ancient pattern called 'Chirashi shikishi' which symbolizes elegance.
In and amongst the fans are flowing, scattered tasseled cords called 'kumihimo'.
The large fan on the front skirt is outlined in heavy, gold couching embroidery. There is quite a lot of fine, gold paint outlining which is still largely intact.
This kind of bold patterning comes from a fashion called Taisho Roman. This was popular in the early Showa period (1926-1989) when Japanese clothing was being strongly influenced by the Western Art Nouveau movement. At this time ready-to-wear kimono were produced in loud colours and patterns, aimed at the fashionable 'modern' consumer.
It is really stunning!
The kimono is lined in fine red silk, in the main body and sleeve. There is also some fan patterning in the lining of lower skirt.
There are 5 mon (white family crests from the Samurai tradition) which denote formality in a kimono. On this item, they are lovely and typical traditional crest called 'Paulownia 5/3'.
AGE & CONDITION: I suggest the age is early Showa Period (1926-1989), probably 1940s or a little later. The black colour, bold patterning and red lining all suggest this date.
The kimono is in truly, vintage excellent condition for its age. There are no conspicuous faults and it is in generally great shape. However it is not perfect as you might expect. On close inspection you can find some some small marks and faintest grubbiness in the pale parts of the design. Overall it is in truly excellent shape for its age but it is a vintage, gently used item, so please do not expect it to look exactly like new.
SIZE: This is a fairly typical size for such a formal kimono so it is very long.
The collar is a typical wide collar which is supposed to be folded inwards, in half for wearing.
The cuff to cuff width is 130cm/51” wide.
The entire length is 162.5cm/64inches.
The width across the back side seam to side seam is 24"/61cm.
The width all around at the waist (from the front of one side, all the way round the back, to the front of the other side is about 53"/134.5cm and please remember you need a good crossover in the front.
The sleeve drop is 41"/104cm.
It is fairly weighty which reflects its quality and weighs about 1kg. (1.2kg with packing).
FURISODE - Furisode are long sleeved kimono worn by unmarried women at formal occasions. Furisode means 'swinging sleeve' which is considered to be alluring.
Due to the magnificent beauty of the elaborate work in these kimonos, they make a very dramatic display as a wall hanging.
WHY CAN SOME WOMEN'S KIMONO BE SO LONG? they are traditionally shortened by hitching up at the waist and hiding the excess fabric behind the wide obi belt.
CLEANING: Vintage kimono items should not be washed. They can usually be dry cleaned. Old stains are not usually removable and some finishes like gold paint may be diminished by dry cleaning.
If you need any more information or pictures just send me a message.
All information is to the best of my knowledge. Please bear in mind, that colours do not always show absolutely accurately on photos and on monitors although they should be close to reality.
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