Buddhist Vestment (Kesa) Made from a Noh Costume (Karaori) with Autumn Grasses and Butterflies

18th–19th century

Not on view

Buddhist vestments were often made from donated garments or textiles. Perhaps ironically, this kesa, once used by an old monk, was probably fashioned from a gorgeous eighteenth-century karaori, a type of costume worn by a male actor playing the role of a young woman in a Noh play. Karaori (translated literally as "Chinese weaving”) is also the name of a type of multicolored brocaded silk, and this textile has a pattern of butterflies and autumn grasses on a ground of blue and red. The autumn plants all belong to the standard group of seven used in Japanese art and poetry: bush clover (hagi); Chinese bellflower (kikyō); miscanthus grass (obana); “purple trousers” flower (fujibakama); large pink (nadeshiko); pampas grass (susuki), and valerian, sometimes called maiden flower (ominaeshi).

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

茶浅葱段秋草蝶模様唐織袈裟
Title: Buddhist Vestment (Kesa) Made from a Noh Costume (Karaori) with Autumn Grasses and Butterflies
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 18th–19th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Twill-weave silk brocaded with silk and metallic thread
Dimensions: Overall: 46 1/2 x 79 3/4 in. (118.1 x 202.6 cm)
Classification: Textiles-Costumes
Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1919
Object Number: 19.93.10
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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