Kimono with pattern imitating glaze dripping down the side of a jar
（Kamedare mon kimono 甕垂文着物）
1961
Medium
stencil-dyed banana-bark cloth (abaca)
Measurements
155.0 cm (centre back) 130.0 cm (cuff to cuff)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Allan Myers AO and Maria Myers AO, 2015
© Serizawa Keiko
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Serizawa Keisuke is one of the most important Japanese textile artists of the twentieth century, and a leading member of the Mingei arts and crafts movement founded by Yanagi Sōetsu in the 1930s. Serizawa is celebrated for his use of the kataezome (stencil-dyeing) technique applied to an Okinawan-style fabric made from abaca banana-leaf fibre. The dynamic pattern on this work was produced using two stencils and four colours. The inspiration for the simple shapes is glaze dripping down the side of a ceramic jar – a feature of historical wabi-sabi-style ceramics. In 1956 Keisuke was designated as a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.