A 19th Century Pieced Crepe Silk Juban: Itajime Dyeing and Katazome

late nineteenth century
shoulder to hem x sleeve tip to sleeve tip: 57" x 48", 145 cm x 122 cm

This is a wonderfully designed, executed and colored silk juban which is still in very good condition for its age and material.

A juban is an under-kimono and often they were made from pieces as this one is.

The pieces that constitute most of the garment are crepe silk which is itajime dyed in safflower or benibana which yields an orange color and the small figured or Edo komon katazome silk. 

The design and layout of the juban is simple and visually arresting as is quite evident from seeing this piece as shown both front and back.

The pattern on the itajime dyed silk is large-scale and interesting: it shows an interesting and highly stylized version of the traditional Japanese design motif known as shochikubai.

Shochikubai, is the design triad of bamboo, pine and plum blossoms, which conveys good wishes.  Plum shows courage as its blossoms, the first of the year, burst forth from under ice; the bamboo is resilience since it bends but does not break; the pine is a symbol of long life and also of a faithful marriage as its needles fall in pairs.

This is a really wonderful example of an old, pieced juban and one that has an impressive amount of safflower dyed silk that is still shows very good color.

There is one stain, shown, otherwise there does not seem to be any glaring flaws to the piece. The garment is lined in deep toned blue silk.

Beautiful.

Recommended.