Banana cloth kimono with ikat geometric designs
Japan, Okinawa prefecture, Banana cloth kimono with ikat geometric designs, late 19th/early 20th century, basho-fu (plain-weave banana fiber cloth) with ikat design in light brown on natural ground, Gift of Terry Welch, no known copyright restrictions, 2009.25.4
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- Title
Banana cloth kimono with ikat geometric designs
- Related Titles
original language: 芭蕉布絣紋着物
- Artist
- Date
late 19th/early 20th century
- Medium
basho-fu (plain-weave banana fiber cloth) with ikat design in light brown on natural ground
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
53 1/2 in x 47 5/8 in
- Collection Area
Asian Art
- Category
Clothing and Textiles
- Object Type
kimono
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
Gift of Terry Welch
- Accession Number
2009.25.4
- Copyright
no known copyright restrictions
- Terms
- Place Made
Created in: Okinawa prefecture
The gauzy, almost diaphanous fabric of this kimono is basho-fu (banana cloth), a textile unique to Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa. Extremely time-consuming and difficult to make, basho-fu is light and airy, ideally suited for the tropical climate. Once produced for local use by village women throughout the Okinawan island chain, basho-fu production survives today only as an artisanal enterprise.
This elegant woman's kimono is decorated with an ikat zigzag pattern dyed light brown with sharinbai (Rhaphiolepis umbellata, a type of hawthorn bush).
