[TEXTILES - JAPAN, 1920s-1940s]. A lavish bridal kimono featuring lobsters

Japan, 1930. One uchikake kimono. Measurements: collar to hem = ca. 163 cm; sleeve hem to sleeve hem = ca. 125 cm. With original price tag: "PRICE 176 着物 (打掛)" (Price, 176, Kimono / Uchikake," the meaning of which is unclear: an old price, shop item number, or perhaps a reference to the size of the kimono). Some seams coming undone, overall in surprisingly good condition, the fabric very shiny and bright. Preserved in a Hollinger Window Display Box (Size: 20 1/2 x 16 1/2 x 3"). AN EXCEPTIONAL, COMPLETELY UNUSED BRIDAL KIMONO WITH AN EXUBERANT AND DECIDEDLY "ART DECO" PATTERN OF SHINY LOBSTERS, THE LIKES OF WHICH WE HAVE NOT BEFORE ENCOUNTERED.

The present wedding kimono is technically it is a uchikake or kaidori, a kimono worn over a kosode or furisode by a bride on her wedding day. It is wildly patterned with Ise-ebi (shiny lobsters), which are considered auspicious in Japanese culture, as are the colors red and gold, as here. The lining of the uchikake is made from red and pink fabrics, the latter patterned with birds, flowers, and trees. The garment features bright gold itsutsumon (five hand-embroidered crests) with a design described as maru ni tsuta (ivy in a circle) design. The white shitsuke-ito (basting threads, or tailors' tacks) and original price tag are still intact, show that our uchikake was never used.

That our specimen was never worn hardly suggests that the intended marriage had an auspicious beginning, or that it even had a beginning. Indeed, one wonders if the wedding ever took place, with or without the present kimono, which for almost 100 years has been rightfully preserved as extraordinary example of Japanese textiles.

AN EXCELLENT SPECIMEN, SUITABLE FOR EXHIBITION AND STUDY. (Inventory #: 4325)