Edo silk

These are some of the latest additions to my collection. They're part of a lovely bundle of very old  kimono silk that Takashi just brought back. I'm guessing these are late 18th  - mid 19th century. They have that wonderful subtle 'iki' sophistication that was characteristic of so much Edo period design.  Some pieces are plain and some  very finely embroidered from the one kimono.  I'm going to have a play  and  see if  I can lay the pieces out as they would have been in the original  kimono. I'll post some photos when I've done that.  The three remnant pieces that I'm posting photos of today are my absolute favourites though. They're beautifully hand-painted on a simple rustic silk. They would have been somewhat brighter than this originally. You can see that some of the flowers and leaves are  faded and some flowers that have originally been pink or red have faded almost completely leaving white spaces. You can click on the photos to get a closer look. I really love these pieces and luckily someone a long time ago did as well and has stitched the remnants together  so they could be saved.