A Beautifully Pieced Silk Under Kimono: Girl's 19th Century Garment

late nineteenth century
40" x 39", 101.5 cm x 99 cm (shoulder to hem x sleeve tip to sleeve tip)

This little treasure is not only beautiful in its own right not only is it hand stitched from absolutely marvelous fragments of 19th century silk cloth, but it is also in very good condition for its age.

It is a lightly padded girl's juban or under kimono and it is pieced of fantastic old pieces. The sleeves and the area around the hem on front show katazome dyed silk with a large, attenuated design that is meant to mimic shibori.  Also on the top of each sleeve is a design showing phoenixes and paulownia flowers.

The pieced silk of the bodice is dyed in safflower or benibana dye and it is charming for the appearance of the origami cranes that appear on either side of the front of the garment and then in a pair on the back, near the center seam.

On the bottom, back, katazome cloth showing stylized streams and cherry blossoms we see ingrained dirt. On the bottom of the front collar area we see another katazome dyed pattern, this one large-scale.

The contrast between beautiful shades of blue and the rich shades of orange is of course obvious and undeniably beautiful. The choice of fabrics used for this garment is really, really good and it is a pleasure to offer this one for sale.

The garment is lined in a deep purple-toned cotton. There are very few flaws to the silk and what can be seen easily is shown on the accompanying detail photo.

Recommended.