Obi

Subject Matter:

This is a Nishijin, Nishiki, and fukuro obi in zentsu-gara.

Fukuro Obi is double-layered  single sided obi in which two separately woven surfaces and back pieces of cloth are stitched together. This type of obi is typically only worn at weddings or other formal occasions.

Nishijin-ori textiles were developed in the Nishijin area of Kyoto city and has dominated the production of high-quality woven textiles since the fifteenth century. The production of Nishijin textiles is very complex and is specialized in five main areas—designing and creating patterns, producing silk threads, producing tools (including weaving machines), weaving, and final sewing—each executed in a different workshop.

Nishiki is a type of vibrant silk brocade with vivid and luxurious images using various colorful  and metallic (mainly gold and silver). Nishiki brocade is mainly produced in the Nishijin area of Kyoto.

Gara refers to the orientation, arrangement, and surface area of the patterns and pertains to a specific trend and obi tying style.

In the Zentsuu gara type, the obi is entirely covered with designs, patterns, and motifs. The versatility of this patterning allows for a variety of obi tying styles.

Physical Description:

Pale yellow fukuro (single-sided) Obi with interwoven modified sauvastika (reverse swastika) motif patternings called “sayagata” in Japanese,  and off-white interlocking oval patterning with white, red, and green chrysanthemum and paulownia leaf motifs on one side and only gold sayagata motifs on the reverse side.

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