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Women’s kimono with stylised chrysanthemum design and accessories

Women’s kimono with stylised chrysanthemum design and accessories
 c. 1930

Medium
silk, cotton, rush grass, wood, bamboo, plastic, bakelite and metal (meisen textile)
Measurements
(a) 157.0 cm (centre back) 132.0 cm (cuff to cuff) (kimono)
(b) 365.0 × 30.5 cm (sash) (obi)
(c) 22.0 × 9.5 × 5.5 cm (each) (sandals)
(e) 4.0 × 4.5 cm (brooch) 127.0 × 0.7 cm (cord)
(f) 10.0 × 4.6 × 2.0 cm 14.0 × 6.0 × 2.0 cm (hairpins)
(g) 59.0 × 78.0 cm (diameter, open) (parasol)
Place/s of Execution
Japan
Accession Number
2016.109
Department
Asian Art
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Supporters of Asian Art, 2016
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work

Created especially for the NGV Collection, this kimono was tailored in Japan from an unused bolt of 1930s Japanese meisen fabric. Its vibrant stylised chrysanthemum motif resembles fireworks, or hanabi, a Japanese word that means ‘fire flowers’.Traditional Japanese attire did not include necklaces, rings, bracelets or chest brooches. Rather, accessories included kanzashi hairpins and an obidome brooch that secured the obi waist sash. Historically, these items were produced from gold, jade, ivory and turtle shell. During the modernist era in the twentieth century, new materials such as bakelite plastic were used to make these beautiful accessories at affordable prices.