Robe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking Squares

Robe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking Squares

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A pattern of overlapping squares as well as pine branches embellish the blue figured silk satin of this robe. Using a traditional tie-dye, or resist-dyeing, technique known as kanoko shibori (from the Japanese verb “to squeeze”), the fabric is first twisted and compressed into tiny, three-dimensional shapes, bound, and then dyed. The design emerges when the binding is released and the fabric flattened. In the most popular variation of the technique, kanoko (fawn), the artisan hand-ties the fabric in small pinches to create a pattern of undyed details, typically similar to a small square with a tiny dot in the center that varies only subtly in shape. As products of a time-consuming and expensive technique, full kanoko-patterned garments were essential to the trousseaux of the eldest daughters of wealthy Kyoto merchants. Robes with kanoko covering their entire surface were the ultimate luxury.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Robe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking SquaresRobe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking SquaresRobe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking SquaresRobe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking SquaresRobe (Kosode) with Pines and Interlocking Squares

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.