A Pieced Silk Han Juban: Katazome

ca. early twentieth century
26" x 22", 66 cm x 56 cm

This is a lightly padded and piece constructed silk vest, most likely worn by a woman under a kimono, for warmth.

The exterior of the vest is hand stitched from pieces of resist dyed chirimen or crepe silk.  The warp of the blue silk is shot through with tsumugi yarns which give the material a faintly striped effect.  Chrysanthemum images are resist dyed on the garment.

The bottom of the vest, which shows a purple dyed chirimen cloth shows a resisted pattern of, again, chrysanthemums and carp, this time the chrysanthemums are designed to fit with the format of a square.  The eri or collar piece shows a gold colored silk, hand stitched, over several layers, for durability.

The inside of the garment is hand stitched from indigo dyed silk.

In overall very good condition with the exception of a bit of loss to the exterior fabric, on the proper, left side, shown in the accompanying detail photos.  At this point of loss, a bit of the white cotton batting shows through.