Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Robe (Kosode) with Volumes of The Tale of Genji and a Chinese Verse from Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Wakan rōeishū)
Not on view
This kosode (robe with small sleeve openings) has images of The Tale of Genji chapter books. It is one of the few surviving examples of a garment made for women in white satin, as this material was typically reserved for Noh costumes. In the Edo period, books were often represented on garments as auspicious motifs symbolizing knowledge and wisdom. The robe’s surface is further decorated with scattered embroidered characters that form a Chinese verse of about 1013 from Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing.
The plum blossoms at Dayu Ridge
have already fallen;
who comes to ask of their powdered makeup?
And the apricot blossoms of Mount Kuanglu
have not yet opened;
why should anyone hasten to their red elegance?
—Translation adapted from J. Thomas Rimer and Jonathan Chaves
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