Unlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning Glories

Unlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning Glories

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A pond with carp and water lilies adorns the lower part of this kimono, and morning glories bloom at the shoulders. This early summer scene is resist dyed and painted on a blue-and-white ground of high-quality silk gauze (ro), subtly patterned in the weave with goldfish in water. The donor’s grandmother, one of four generations of female textile artists, wore this summer kimono during her thirteenth year, around 1876, for her jūsan-mairi (literally, “thirteenth temple visit”) to Arashiyama Hōrinji, a temple in Saga, Kyoto, to receive blessings as she entered adolescence. The kimono has three family crests: one on the center of the back and one on each sleeve.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Unlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning GloriesUnlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning GloriesUnlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning GloriesUnlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning GloriesUnlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Carp, Water Lilies, and Morning Glories

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.