Kesa (Buddhist priest's robe)

This complete kesa (Buddhist priest’s robe) shows an allover pattern of chrysanthemums and curling leaf devices. There are six patches of lighter silk that show cloud bands and parts of dragons. There are 14 jos (narrow strips of silk) made up of many dark blue silk patches with six light red/orange silk patches placed at the four corners, generally indicating the positions of the wearer’s hands and feet. Two larger squares near the shoulder areas provided support for the ties on the reverse that fastened the garment to the wearer’s body. Piecing and patching was employed to symbolize poverty. The Lehman kesa is a fine work, displaying all the characteristics expected in an eighteenth-to-nineteenth-century piece.(1) The kinran fabric (the monochromatic ground in a plain, twill, or satin weave, generally patterned with supplementary wefts of flat gold paper), is patterned with chrysanthemum blossoms and karakusa (Chinese-style scrolling vines) in gold against a dark blue background, with highlights in green and light blue. The six patches introduce a more colorful nishiki fabric (polychromatic brocaded silk), patterned on a brilliant orange background.(2) The use of such an application of Chinese-influenced designs, either adapted from prototypes or used along with domestically produced and indigenous Japanese fabrics, is common. The animals are symbolic: the dragon stands for protection; the phoenix for the everlasting rule of the emperor, therefore longevity; and the crane for longevity and happiness.

Catalogue entry from Christa C. Mayer Thurman. The Robert Collection. Decorative Arts, Volume XV. Wolfram Koeppe, et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 389-390.

NOTES:
1. The sacred kesa, modeled after the Buddha’s modest garment, has played a major role wherever Buddhism has taken root. As an outer article of clothing it is worn freely draped over the left shoulder and under the right arm, like the Roman toga. The elongated shape — sometimes rectangular, sometimes trapezoidal — of more recent centuries, is composed of nine to twenty-five jo, or patched panels, that run vertically within the main field. The more jo, the higher the wearer’s rank. For more on the elaborate and symbolic piecing process, and on the uses of different textiles and the significance of certain patterns, see Kennedy, Alan. “Kesa: Its Sacred and Secular Aspects.” Textile Museum Journal 22, 1984, pp. 67 – 80; Lyman, Marie. “Distant Mountains: The Influence of Funzō-e on the Tradition of Buddhist Clerical Robes in Japan.” Textile Museum Journal 23, 1984, pp. 25 – 41; Hays, Mary V., and Ralph E. Hays. Japanese Kesa.” In Vestments East and West: Japanese Kesa and European Chasubles, pp. 1 – 36. Exhibition, Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, California, 26 July –27 September 1987. Catalogue by Mary V. Hays, Ralph E. Hays, and Nancy Norris-London. Moraga, 1987; Kennedy, Alan. “A Ritual Garment of Japan: The Buddhist Kesa.” In In Quest of Themes and Skills: Asian Textiles, edited by Krishna Riboud, pp. 112 – 25. Bombay, 1989.
2. For more detailed definitions, consult the Glossary in “Five Centuries of Japanese Kimono: On This Sleeve of Fondest Dreams.” Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, 7 March –7 June 1992. Catalogue published in Museum Studies (Art Institute of Chicago) 18, no. 1 (1992), pp. 97, 98.

Robert Lehman, New York