BMA Presents 19th-21st Century Japanese Kimono and Obi Never Before On View

BALTIMORE, MD (Updated September 9, 2016)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presents Kimono & Obi: Romantic Echoes from Japan’s Golden Age, an exquisite selection of late 19th-to-21st century kimono and obi on view in the museum’s Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, July 10, 2016–January 15, 2017. Never before exhibited, these stunning garments, including seven kimono and an array of obi, were made after sumptuary laws were lifted early in the Meiji period (1868-1912), when commoners were no longer banned from wearing showy clothing with colors like red or purple.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is an early 20th-century long-sleeved kimono or furisode—yuzen-dyed, hand-embellished with gold and silver leaf, metallic pigments, and embroidery, and lined in red silk decorated with gold and silver leaf.

As Japan entered the industrial age in the late 1800s, kimono and obi expressed increased prosperity and new found wealth. Many of the kimono from this era display decorative motifs with symbols from Japan’s Heian period (794 to 1185) when the Imperial Court was considered its most powerful, refined, and romantic. For example, fan motifs depicted on this bridal kimono on view represent the hi-ogi, or cypress wood fans the empress and ladies of the Heian Court held to hide their faces from the stares of men. In the context of a wedding, this motif signaled the bride’s status as “Princess for the Day” and represented the opening of a new and wonderful life ahead as a married woman.

Organized by Curator of Textiles Anita Jones and consulting curator Ann Marie Moeller.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by The Coby Foundation, Ltd.