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Meisen Kimono with Thunderbolts

ca. 1950–55
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The dazzling pattern of thunderbolts, rendered as white and black lines on a red ground, was made with the stenciled double-ikat technique. The wefts were dyed with three stencils and the warps with two. The dyer used a four-sided block instead of a flat board to dye the wefts, creating a sophisticated, gradated kasuri (ikat) effect. This lively composition was created in Isesaki, Gunma prefecture, and represents postwar fashion for meisen.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 赤地落雷模様銘仙着物
  • Title: Meisen Kimono with Thunderbolts
  • Period: Shōwa period (1926–89)
  • Date: ca. 1950–55
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Plain-weave silk in double ikat (heiyō-gasuri)
  • Dimensions: 60 × 49 in. (152.4 × 124.5 cm)
  • Classification: Costumes
  • Credit Line: Promised Gift of John C. Weber
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art