Vintage & Antique Japanese Fabrics by Piece: Other Type Fabrics

77851:1950s Japanese Meisen Silk 58in.Pc. (AraiHari) Kasuri-Like Geometric Designs

Catalog# 7785-1

1950s Japanese Textiles:
From Arai-Hari Cleaners

Japanese Kimono Meisen Silk Fabric Piece
Kasuri-like Design Block-Patterns on Red

Width: 14.25 inches / 33.7 cm
Length: 58 inches / 147.32 cm

US$18.00 per piece
plus shipping

Item Details and Description

Fabric History/Pedigree: 1930s-1950s silk fabric pieces received from traditional Japanese kimono cleaner/reconstructor called Arai-Hari -- see an excellent explanation of traditional Arai Hari by textile expert John Marshall, expert on Japanese textiles HERE .)

Fabric Description: Meisen silk, is a lightweight summer-type fabric, translucent but not sheer; with a fairly smooth feel to the touch, the background is a solid medium-dark red color with designs more commonly seen in kasuri; These blocks alternate side to side viewed vertically, 6 full blocks and partial blocks at top and bottom; The composition of the blocks is by multiple lined hash-tags and blocks, in a rectangular thatchwork arrangement, all elements are under 1 inch / 2.54cm; at the center of each block is a rhombic (4 sided) diamond shape very commonly seen in older kasuri cotton fabrics; The colors are creamy-white and charcoal-black, some gradation of colors in the dark elements; note the intentionally and typical Meisen fuzzy edges to all figures & lines; This piece is same on both sides; slight sheen; better quality silk; some might label this as 'mock-kasuri' silk due to the patterns described.
Colors: Please NOTE that colors and contrast differ on each device, so please use our text descriptions to complement your sense of the fabric.
Condition: Excellent.
Recommended for making scarf/accessories.

Background Information on Meisen Kimonos:

Meisen is defined literally in our Kenkyuusha dictionary as "...common silk stuff"; meisen fabrics (or garments made from them) are currently called 'meisen'; Meisen kimono were made similarly to Kasuri (ikat), though meisen usually have very colorful patterns with distinct -- often more modern -- motifs and a slight sheen; 1950s meisen have intentionally fuzzy, almost Impressionistic look and often larger designs; Kasuri/ikat, of course, is mostly indigo blue and some white with black. To learn more about kasuri click here.

To see pictures of meisen silk vintage kimonos from Google, touch HERE.

Other Cultural Notes: The best discussion we've found of Meisen silk fabric was on an old blog post by Japundit, excerpted here*:

"...Young women have rediscovered(Japan Times) the kimono, and you can see them out in Harajuku on the Sunday fashion parade. There's even a term for these girls -- not surprisingly they are called "kimono girls." There are even some nice books documenting the trend which you can check out at J-List and are definitely worth having if you are at all into fashion.

"The meisen kimono in particular has become very popular. These kimono were made in the first half of the twentieth century, and were characterized by a glossy sheen, and brilliant patterns. There is often a sort of blurry quality to the silks...."

[*original article has been pulled]

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