Kimono with Stylized Flowing Water

second quarter of the 20th century

Not on view

The virtuosity of the weavers and dyers who collaborated on this kimono is best revealed when the garment is viewed in a raking light, and the gold- and silver-painted stream shimmers against the underlying woven water pattern. When wrapped around the body, with the left front overlapping the right, the highlighted stream flows from just below the wearer’s obi sash toward the center back hem, where it meets the stream flowing from the right front. When the robe is fully open, the water patterns resonate with similar stylized flowing-water motifs in works by contemporaneous painters working in the Rinpa idiom, such as Kamisaka Sekka (1866–1942).

In contrast to water patterns by his predecessor Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716), Sekka’s water designs emphasize movement and turbulence rather than stillness.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

綸子地流水模様着物
Title: Kimono with Stylized Flowing Water
Period: Shōwa period (1926–89)
Date: second quarter of the 20th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Silk; paste-resist dyed with gold- and silver-painted accents
Dimensions: Overall: 62 × 51 in. (157.5 × 129.5 cm)
Classification: Textiles-Costumes
Credit Line: Gift of Sue Cassidy Clark, in memory of Terry Satsuki Milhaupt, 2013
Object Number: 2013.510.3
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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