Description

This kimono was exported to the Western market as a fashionable indoor wear. The bold embroidery of cherry blossoms and peacocks, the gussets fitted into the sides, the body gently widening toward the hem, and the curved collar were all arranged for the Western market. Iida Takashimaya, the predecessor of Takashimaya, was a major kimono store in the Meiji period, and had been actively engaged in trade since the end of the 19th century.
The peacock, an exotic bird, often appeared as a motif in Japanese arts and crafts and was associated with Japan in the West. There is an ancient record that the peacock was donated to Emperor Suiko by Silla in 589, and thereafter it was often imported and hung in showrooms as a rare animal. Kimonos with peacock patterns have been seen since the early Edo period, especially in genre paintings of the late Edo period. In his “Peacock Room,” the artist Whistler painted peacocks on the walls, and above the fireplace, a female figure in a kimono, “Rose and Silver: Princess of the Ceramic Country” (1863-64, Freer Gallery of Art), is displayed.

[Photo: ©The Kyoto Costume Institute]