Summer Robe (Katabira) with Autumn Flowers and Insect Cages

late 18th–early 19th century

Not on view

In Japan, insects beloved for their chirping song were sometimes caught or purchased and kept in cages. This unlined summer robe features a variety of insect cages amid autumn grasses on an indigo blue ground that suggests cool autumn days and the color of water—a favorite conceit for summer kimonos. The design is rendered using paste-resist dyeing (yūzen) and embroidery. The scattered, glinting gold embroidery evokes the quality of light on an autumn day. The insect-cage design was already popular in the early Edo period and is depicted in the earliest woodblock-printed book of patterns for kimonos, published in 1666.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

藍地秋草虫籠模様帷子小袖
Title: Summer Robe (Katabira) with Autumn Flowers and Insect Cages
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: late 18th–early 19th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Bast fiber with resist‑dyeing, silk-thread embroidery, and gold-thread couching
Dimensions: 70 1/4 × 48 1/2 in. (178.4 × 123.2 cm)
Classification: Costumes-Embroidered
Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2018
Object Number: 2018.643
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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