Ichiroya (Kimono Flea Market)
Fisherman’s Festival Kimono
1899-1940
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Ichiroya (Kimono Flea Market)
Fisherman’s Festival Kimono
1899-1940
Physical Qualities
Cotton, 50 × 49 1/4 in. (127 × 125.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Jeffrey Krauss Collection of Japanese Textiles
Object Number
2017.418
An indigo-dyed cotton celebratory fisherman’s kimono with dark blue ground and design of a crane in white, black, grey and red at the top back and over the shoulders. The crane holds a banner in its beak, which carries an inscription "Banzai" indicating that the robe is worn in celebration of an event. At the bottom of the robe are 2 tortoises of black and grey swimming in stylized white waves.
The front of the robe features Japanese characters in white on the collar (eri) reading "Wakamiya group", representing a location, company, or association. These characters were definitely produced using stencil technique (tsutsugaki).The crane design may also have been created with stencil.
This robe resembles a maiwai or celebratory jacket, but unlike the maiwai, the collar of this garment ends well above the hem, indicating that it is a kimono meant to be work with an obi sash.
The cotton is soft and of medium thickness.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2017; Jeff Krauss, Potomac, MD, by purchase 2006 from Ichiroya
Inscribed: Printed in Japanese produced through resist within the banner held in the beck of the crane on reverse: "Banzai" [a celebratory word in Japanese - literally "ban", or man and [10,000] "zai", or "sai" meaning years of life] Printed in Japanese produced through resist on the collar: "Wakamiya gumi" [Wakamiya group, a location, company, or association that has yet to be identified]
