Suntory Museum of Art
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Collection
Notable Works
Bingata Textile Fragment with Peony, Butterfly, Bird, Paulownia and Cherry Blossom Motifs on a Yellow Ground

Notable Works

Textiles

Bingata Textile Fragment with Peony, Butterfly, Bird, Paulownia and Cherry Blossom Motifs on a Yellow Ground

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Place of production or style: Ryūkyū Kingdom
Number of components: 1
Format and materials: Cotton, bingata
Dimensions (in cm): L. 62.0, W. 35.9
Date of production: Second Sho Dynasty 19th century

Bingata is a type of dyeing distinctive to Okinawa that origninated during the Ryukyu Kingdom period (fifteenth to nineteenth century). It uses two types of methods; one is stencil dyeing using paper stencils and the other is freehand paste resist dyeing (tsutsugaki). The base may be bashōfu (fabric woven from the fiber banana), cotton, or other fabrics. A wide range of motifs, born through the kingdom's trade and other interactions with other parts of East Asia, are expressed in vivid colors. While bingata involves the use of many colored dyes, aigata, literally indigo dyeing, involves only different shades of indigo and black dyestuffs. The designs include everything from phoenixes and peonies that show the influence of Chinese culture to distinctively Japanese cherry blossom and pine tree designs. During the Ryukyu Kingdom, people's daily lives gained color through wearing bingata clothing.

Notable Works

Bingata Textile Fragment with Peony, Butterfly, Bird, Paulownia and Cherry Blossom Motifs on a Yellow Ground

SUNTORY MUSEUM of ART