A Fantastically Patched Boro Kimono: Artistry in Happenstance

early to mid twentieth century
51" x 45", 129.5 cm x 114.25 cm

This is a wonderfully beautiful and quite tattered, boro cotton kimono.  Its colored patching and mending elevate the kimono from being something ordinary to something with an immediate and striking visual appeal.

The body of the kimono is a greyish, lightweight cotton.  Shown here is the kimono's interior, which is where the mending can be seen.

The kimono is tattered; the collar portion is ragged; there is a great deal of stitching to the kimono which is obvious on the accompanying photo where the kimono is opened and the proper exterior can be seen.

But it is the mending which is so visually exciting.  The long strip of mottled turquoise blue cotton against a strip of purple cotton, against a swatch of salmon colored cotton is just gorgeous.  Interesting to note that in this progression of colored cottons there is some stitching done in hemp thread which is something that you would want to see on an old, boro kimono.

These colored patches in relation to the patching on the opposite side of the kimono is beautiful: hand stitched on the proper right, front of the kimono are fragments of a tenugui, a kind of patterned hand towel, with some fragments of kasuri and striped cotton.  The back of the kimono is of a hand loomed, narrow striped, indigo dyed cotton.

A fantastically interesting boro kimono which is unusual for its color and its style of patching.

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