Black silk haori with crests, landscape-painted lining
The Temple in the Trees
220 €
Only one in stock
Each kimono is bought one at a time in Japan; we will not have another. These are authentic vintage Japanese kimono: each one has been worn, then carefully kept, before it came this far. It is not new, and that is where its value lies. The marks of time — the patina, the light wear — are photographed and described; they are part of the piece.
Description
Outside, a black with no pattern at all, and small white crests: a stylised flower in a circle. A crested haori is the dress of great occasions.
Inside, a whole painting. A large wooden temple juts out over a ravine, held up by a forest of pillars. Around it, trees in autumn — brown, russet, grey-green; thatched roofs; and, at the top, a line of pines on the mountain. The tones are muted, like an old woodblock print.
The landscape fills the whole back of the lining. You only see it when the jacket opens — or when it comes off and passes over the arm.
Worn open, as a short jacket, over dark clothes.
Its story
The temple on the lining, set on its frame of pillars, resembles Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, whose great wooden terrace has looked over the city since the seventeenth century. People climb up to it above all in autumn, when the maples turn red below the terrace.
The Japanese even have a saying for a bold decision: "to jump from the terrace of Kiyomizu" (Kiyomizu no butai kara tobioriru).
Painting such a landscape inside a black jacket follows the logic of ura-masari, "what is hidden is worth more than what is seen": a man's luxury was worn on the inside, for himself alone.
Details
- Length
- 94 cm / 37.0"
- Yuki (back to cuff)
- approx. 62.5 cm / 24.6" — cuff-to-cuff span approx. 125 cm / 49.2"
- Body width
- 57 cm / 22.4"
- Sleeve
- 49 cm / 19.3" long, 32.5 cm / 12.8" wide
- Material
- Silk. Lining (haura) in painted silk.
- Motif
- Temple on stilts, autumn trees, thatched roofs, pines on the mountain
- Crests
- Stylised flower in a circle
- Condition
- First grade.
- Worn
- Open, as a short jacket
Shipping
Sent from France, carefully folded and wrapped in Japanese paper. Times and rates are set out in the terms of sale. Returns accepted within fourteen days, except for pieces altered to measure.
Care
Dry clean only. The lining is painted: never rub, never spot-clean with water. Store flat or on a hanger, away from light.