In store... recent additions

I'm afraid I'm very behind with my blogging! I was busy with our last shipment and then preparing for Takashi's stand at the Launceston Antique Fair (thanks to all who came along)... and I don't seem to get anything done in the school holidays. I hope to write more soon but in the meantime here are some recent additions to the shop:

We've put out a selection of old prints including this kabuki actor by Utagawa Kunisada  aka Toyokuni III (1786 - 1865). We have a few of his prints in the shop including some wonderful triptychs.  He was working in the mid 19th century before the introduction of brighter inks at the end of the 19th century  and I love his works for their subtle colours. 

There are more lovely subtle colours in this old (19th century?) patchwork silk  kesa, or Buddhist monk's mantle. This is just a detail from one corner:

Some beautiful and also very useful  early 20th century dishes:



This is a lovely pair of old (late 19th century?) hina ningyo Girls' Day dolls. Please have a look at my early blog on hina matsuri for  more information about the hina festival and dolls:

The next piece is one of my favourite things in the shop at the moment. It's of  'Kanzeon' Bohdhisattva of Compassion  handpainted on wood and would have been donated as a temple gift to wish for protection from fire, disease or whatever. It is says down the left side Sadakichi Kaneko painted 1807, repaired 1868. It has a lovely warm, aged, rustic quality:

Moving on to the 20th century... this 'Katsura ningyo  doll with changeable wigs has clearly  been made as a souvenir:

And lastly,  this old metal advertising sign for a vitamin drink is a little rusty but has a great retro character:

In store - more silk kimono fabric

Here are a few more of the kimono silks that arrived last week...

Just arrived - kimono fabrics

At the moment I'm busy unpacking and sorting out boxes and boxes of  kimono fabrics on the roll  that arrived yesterday. They won't all fit in the shop yet but I'll make room for as many as I can. My husband Takashi does the buying in Japan and so I usually haven't seen  the fabrics before they arrive  and it's always fun opening the boxes...

Most of  the  kimono fabrics that we sell by the metre are from the 1960's - 80's and it's often the  modern designs, which we now think of as 'retro', that stand out. I've posted about these fabrics before and I can't resist posting a few of my favourites from the silks which arrived yesterday. 

                   

I'll add  more photos of some of the new fabrics when I've done a bit more sorting out....

In store - chirimen and more

At the moment I'm ironing up some very lovely old fabrics for the shop, including these old chirimen silk crepe kimono and juban (undergarment) pieces  from late 19th - early 20th century:



I'll also be making up a few packs of chirimen fragments like this remnant from a girls' kimono:

The next piece is from a Taisho period (1912-26) girl's kimono:

Here are a couple of other kimono fabrics from early - mid 20th century that I particulary like. The first one is a komon ('small pattern' stencil resist) water pattern on an open 'ro' weave summer kimono silk:

And some lovely old plum blossoms in striking pinks:

Lastly,  a couple of  very old  'sarasa' printed cottons. I'm not really sure what these particular pieces have been used for, but they have a lovely character. I'll write more about sarasa in a future post.



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.

                          

In store...

Shapes and patterns from around the shop....