Suntory Museum of Art
About the Museum
Collection
Notable Works
Hitoe with net, reed, and heron design on purple crepe ground

Notable Works

Textiles

Hitoe with net, reed, and heron design on purple crepe ground

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Number of components: 1
Dimensions (in cm): L. 173.0, D. (sleeve) 45.0, L. (center-to-sleeve) 64.0
Date of production: Edo period Second half of the 19th century

A hitoe is an unlined kimono worn in summer. The design, which places egrets between water reeds and drying fishing nets, is filled with a seasonally suitable refreshingly cool air. The flowing water on the purple ground has been dyed in delicate lines. The water reed tassels, fluttering in a light breeze, were dyed using the suri hitta technique, in which a stencil is used to imitate fine dappled tie-dyeing. The gold threads intertwined with the green, bright green, and orange threads of the fishing nets and the couching stitch in gold thread that presents the wave crests and water droplets add a brilliant glow amidst the otherwise restrained color scheme.

Notable Works

Hitoe with net, reed, and heron design on purple crepe ground

SUNTORY MUSEUM of ART