Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Fabric Swatches

81632: 1930s-50s Modernistic Japanese Meisen 37in. Silk Fabric, AraiHari Peonies, Iki Stripes

8163: Partial view 1930s Meisen Silk Piece, A long view of a meisen kasuri woven textile with a dark purple background, featuring large red and cream peony stylized motifs, green leaves, and vertical pink and purple stripes.

Vintage Japanese Textiles:
1930s-1950s Arai Hari Used Silk Kimono Piece

Hogushi-Kasuri (warp-weft) Weave Meisen:
with 5 Modernistic, Stylized Japanese Peony Clusters
with stripes in parallel as background accents

Another Example of Design changes in pre-war Japan:
Western-influenced from 1920s-1940s Art Nouveau/Art Deco in Europe/USA.

Width: 14.5 inches / 36.83 cm
Length: 37 inches / 93.98 cm

Catalog# 8163-2:

US$12.00 per piece plus shipping

Fabric History/Pedigree: Pieces received from a traditional Japanese kimono cleaner/reconstructor called Arai-Hari -- see an excellent explanation of traditional Arai Hari by textile expert John Marshall by clicking HERE;

For an excellent 'how-to' do Arai-Hari oneself, we highly recommend Kae Warnock's Blog, Chocolate Factotum:

Fabric Description: Lightweight meisen silk from the 1930s–1950s, purple background with ruddy-rust and green color with parts of the flowers being cream-white; bands of parallel pins and stripes rendered as background; Hogushi-Kasuri (warp-weft) weave.

Motif Details: This thin, lightweight, and slightly translucent piece exemplifies pre-war Japanese design influenced by 1920s–1940s Art Nouveau and Art Deco from Europe and the USA. The motif is a modernized, stylized rendering of traditional Peonies, countered with modernist *stripes, stems, and stems and blades in muted green color; the stripes are pink with dark purple; the motif appears on both sides;

*Cultural Note: The connotation of traditional Japanese at the time, for these stripes, is iki (to live); considered bold at the time, yet in this Showa Period we see modern figures like these stripes mixed with traditional peonies (considered an imperial flower -- top flower status).

Colors: Text descriptions complement your visual perception of the fabric; contrast and color may vary across devices.

Condition: Excellent for age, though some needle holes at edges from deconstruction; clean; Ideal for making accessories, purses, and textile projects.