Hitoe

Textiles

Taishô period (1912–1926), c. 1912/16

Japan

This hitoe (an unlined summer kimono) displays a very simple patter of crosses (juji) and a four-petal flower-like motif. The tiny patterning of this kimono was created through a warp and weft resist-dyed technique known as oshima kasuri (named for the Japanese island Amami Oshima). This version of kasuri was developed after 1868 and achieved with the assistance of graph paper or mise-en-carte paper imported from Europe. Sophisticated and highly valued, the growing popularity of small patterened oshima kasuri led to additional adaptations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that allowed for increasingly small, instricate designs that required less labor to produce.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Hitoe
Place: Japan (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1907–1921
Medium: Silk, warp and weft resist-dyed (oshima kasuri) plain weave
Dimensions: 158.4 × 127.3 cm (62 1/2 × 50 1/8 in.); Repeat: 18 × 16.5 cm (7 1/8 × 6 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mary V. and Ralph E. Hays
Reference Number: 1999.598

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.