Over robe (uchikake) with mandarin orange branches and books

This elegant wedding garment, a white uchikake with auspicious, ever-green mandarin-oranges (tachibana) and scattered books, was originally part of a set of three robes, the two others being black and red respectively, with the same decoration, made for a wealthy merchant-class bride. For the wedding ceremony, the bride was dressed in a white ensemble, but later she changed into richly embroidered white, red, and black uchikake, worn in sequence, and was officially introduced to the groom’s family during the celebratory banquet. This example has a white figured satin-weave ground with stylized paired-phoenix roundels, while the open books are mainly in silk embroidery and gold thread couching. The title slips are either lost or were not depicted, but typically it was The Tale of Genji and other classics, or poetry anthologies referenced on these wedding garments. Details of the mandarin-orange leaves are in simple stencil-dyed dots which replaced the labor-intensive “fawn spot” tie-dye technique (kanoko shibori), as required by the sumptuary laws.

A successful marriage was seen as a fulfillment of filial duties and a woman’s most important accomplishment in the Edo period. And, at a time when parents typically left all their property to their firstborn or adopted son, marriage was among the few ways a woman could ensure that she was provided for. However, marriage was a government-regulated means of preserving the patrilineal system and maintaining strict class distinctions.