About This Artwork

Japan

Furisode, Late Edo period (1789–1868), 19th century

Silk, 4:1 satin damask weave (rinzu); embroidered with silk and gold-leaf-over-lacquered-paper-strip-wrapped silk in satin stitches; laid work and couching, and padded couching; lined with silk, plain weave
183.8 x 128.8 cm (72 1/4 x 50 3/4 in.)
Shoulder to hem length: 105.9 cm (41 3/4 in.)
Sleeve length: 86.4 cm (34 in.)
Collar back to hem length: 7.6 cm (3 in.)
Width at hem: 62.5 cm (24 5/8 in.)
Width of sleeve panel: 32.7 cm (12 7/8 in.)
Width of center front panel hem overlap: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.)
Gift of Gaylord Donnelley in memory of Frances Gaylord Smith, 1991.637

Textiles
Gallery 108

This furisode, a long-sleeved garment worn by children and unmarried women on special occasions, belonged to a family whose crest was the tachibana, the flower of the Mandarin orange. Made of rinzu (a soft, luxurious silk), it was probably used as an uchikake, an outer coat worn without an obi, which would have interrupted the flow of the patterning. A blossoming plum tree embroidered with gold and white silk thread spreads its branches from hem to shoulder. The red fabric is woven in a sagayata pattern of key-fret lozenges, over which individual orchids or chrysanthemums are scattered. The carefully delineated picture of a tree shows the influence of Western art on Japanese design. Needlework typical of this period was used to realistically portray the contours of the tree trunk. First the edges of the trunk were padded with a heavy thread; then, over this padding, gold-wrapped thread was couched with red silk thread.