6484: 1930s-50s Japanese Meisen Silk Fabric, By Piece 78 in. (AraiHari)

Vintage Japanese Textiles:
1930s-1950s Meisen Silk Fabric Piece

Width: 13.75 inches / 34.92 cm
Length: 78 inches / 1.98 m

Catalog# 6484:

US$25.00 per piece

USA Shipping included for package weight under 4 pounds

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

Fabric Description: Lightweight meisen silk is 1930s-50s piece; Meisen is defined literally as 'common silk stuff'; and has grown in popularity in the last few years; Meisen from that period are usually larger bold patterns and bright colors but this one is distinctive in its use of smaller size figures and designs; also, such geometric grids are not commonly seen in the older meisens. See close-ups.

Fabric Motif: Distinctive Japanese traditional design red and white checkerboard array with intermittent black geometric shapes; the bar-lines which make up the grid are fuzzy-edged and also lighter reds on edges of the lines; As is typical in Meisen, note the impressionistic fuzzy edges; patterns same on both sides;

Colors: Reminder that colors differ on different devices, so please refer to our text color descriptions.

Condition: Excellent.

Cultural Notes: The best discussion we've found of Meisen silk fabric was on an old blog post by Japundit, excerpted here, from the early 2000's*:

"...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 is no longer on the internet.] more info on meisen is here.