Noh Robe Maker: Unknown

18th century

Asian Art

Not on view

Elaborate, eye-catching costumes are crucial to Noh theatre. The costumes originated in the clothing of the fourteenth-century Japanese elite. Aristocratic families and the warrior class patronized Noh troops and gave them robes for support. Aristocrats sometimes even threw their outer garments onto the stage after performances to show their appreciation. The robe here consists of three different fabrics, recycled from karaori (stiff, thick textile for kimonos) and sewn together into a dazzling Noh costume whose metallic threads glint in the light. The wide body of the costume suggests that it may date from the eighteenth century.

Medium

Compound twill brocade (Karaori): silk and metallic thread

Dimensions

Length in Back: 57 1/2 in. (146 cm)
51 3/4 in. (131.5 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Jared K. Morse

Accession Number

1952.40.26

Geography

Japan

Culture

Japanese

Period

Edo period (1615–1868)

Classification

Apparel/Costume

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Bibliography

  • Stephen E. Marvin, Heaven Has a Face, So Does Hell: The Art of the Noh Mask, 2 vols. (Warren, Conn.: Floating World Editions, 2007), 1–403, vol. 1.
  • Claudia Brittenham, "The Gift of Cloth: Highlights of Yale's Japanese Textile Collection," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2007): 148–49, 152–53, ill. frontispiece, ill.
  • Shodai Yasuemon Hori, Shouzou Masuda, and Masaki Miyano, Noh men: Kanshou to Uchikata (Tokyo: Tankousha, 1998), 1–207.
  • Tooru Nakanishi, Noh no Omote (Tokyo: Tamagawa Daigaku Shuppanbu, 1998), 1–132.
  • Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 309, ill.
  • Loretta N Staples, A Sense of Pattern: Textile Masterworks from the Yale University Art Gallery, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981), 18, no. 10, ill.

Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

clothing, robes

Technical metadata and APIs

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