A work made of silk, plain weave; resist dyed and stenciled (yûzenzome: utsushi-zome, hikizome, bokashizome and suri bokashizome) and painted with india ink, gold and silver (itome with sumi, kin-nori and gin-nori); embroidered with silk, gold-leaf-over-lacquered-paper strip wrapped silk and gold-leaf-over-lacquered-paper strip wrapped cotton in satin, single satin, and surface satin stitches, laid work and couching; lined with silk, plain weave.

Furisode

Shôwa period (1926–1989), c. 1930

Japan

The large motifs of an ox cart filled with flowers and two hexagonal boxes from the shell matching game (kaiawase) on this bride’s furisode, both date to the Heian period (794-1185). Once popular with Heian court ladies, the shell matching game symbolized the uniting of a man and woman. Associated with marriage, the shell matching game was often given as a wedding gift or found among a bride’s trousseau. Roundels and persimmon-shaped forms containing an array of auspicious and seasonal flowers cover theis furisode.

Silk, plain weave; resist dyed and stenciled (yûzenzome: utsushi-zome, hikizome, bokashizome and suri bokashizome) and painted with India ink, gold and silver (itome with sumi, kin-nori and gin-nori); embroidered with silk, gold-leaf-over-lacquered-paper strip wrapped silk and gold-leaf-over-lacquered-paper strip wrapped cotton in satin, single satin, and surface satin stitches, laid work and couching; lined with silk, plain weave

Textiles