A 19th Century Boro Silk Yose Han Juban: Marvelous Color Palette

ca. mid-to-late nineteenth century
25" x 46", 63.5 cm x 117 cm

Make no mistake about it, this softly colored, silk, han juban--or half under kimono--has been worn hard.  A good deal of its surface cloth has been abraded away or is missing in chunks, especially on the proper front of the undergarment.  This can be clearly seen by looking at the attached detail photos.

But it is its overall coloration, its good age, its lovely color fading and the silks that have been dyed in botanical dyes that keep this fragile beauty looking so attractive.

Down the center of the back of the garment is a panel of chirimen, or crepe, silk dyed in benibana, or safflower dye. It is flanked on the bottom by katazome dyed chirimen silks.  The undergarment's cotton color is a pale pink--also benibana.

The lining of the han juban is of wonderful, old hand spun cotton, which, when looking at the front of the piece, can be seen through the eroded silk pieces which have fallen from the han juban some time ago.

Even though this piece is quite distressed, it is still something wonderful to admire, to study, or to use as inspiration.

A lovely, lovely old silk undergarment.