Black Nagoya -style obi with woven design of decorative spools (itomaki)

Description

Nagoya obi
Japan, Showa period (1926–1989)
1930s–50s
Black silk with gold- and silver-wrapped thread
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi, 2005/1.343
Nagoya obi
Japan, Showa period (1926–1989)
1960s
Black silk damask with metallic thread embroidery
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi, 2005/1.330
Takizawa Kôyû
Japan, active 1940–1960
Nagoya obi
Showa period (1926–1989)
circa 1940–60
Tamaito (dupioni) silk with hand-painted landscape design
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi, 2005/1.332
Nagoya obi
Japan, Showa period (1926–1989)
1930s–50s
Silk damask with woven pattern and metallic thread embroidery
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi, 2005/1.331
Obi
Japan, Showa period (1926–1989)
1940s–50s
Silk with Saga brocade appliqués
Gift of Howard and Patricia Yamaguchi, 2005/1.335
On kimono, Saga brocade appliqués seem almost like delicately painted designs. The poems on the fan-shaped Saga brocades of this pink-grey obi were specially commissioned from a professional calligrapher by Iwata Shizuka; they allude to a long tradition of applying calligraphy directly to kimono during the Edo period (1615–1868).
Because of its origin as a pastime for the ladies-in-waiting of the Nabeshima clan, Saga brocade continues to be practiced today by women of upper-class families. Soon after she married in 1950, Iwata Shizuko took a class to learn the Saga brocade weaving technique. Both she and her mother liked the understated, elegant beauty of Saga brocade.
(Wrapped in Silk & Gold Exhibition, Summer 2010)