Art Institute of Chicago

Kesa

Japan

Date

First half of the 19th century, Late Edo period (1789–1868)

Medium

Silk and gilt-paper strip; twill weave with secondary binding warps and supplementary patterning wefts; silk tassels

Culture

Japan

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The fabric for this trapezoidal robe made for the Jodo sect is a famous type known in Japan as nishiki kinran a brocade that combines silk in various rich colors ( nishiki ) with flat gilt-paper thread ( kinran ). The pattern combines two types of dragons with two types of cloud designs in a Chinese manner. An inscription on the lining records that the robe was donated to the temple on February 14th (no year cited) by the presiding priest, a member of the 23rd generation of the family that owned the temple.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.