Cranes, Dragons, and Teddy Bears is a display of Japanese Children’s Kimono from the collection of Marita and David Paly which was displayed at the Portland Art Museum. According to the display:
“In Japan, until the mid-twentieth century, the kimono was the universal garment. While children often wore hand-me-downs from their elders, for special occasions the preference was for garments with auspicious motifs, such as cranes and dragons—symbols of long life.”
Kasuri describes a fabric that has been woven with fibers dyed to create patterns and images in the fabric.
Shown above is a girl’s kimono with family crest and landscape.
Shown above is a 19th century boy’s kimono with kasuri dragons.
Shown above is a late 19th or early 20th century boy’s kimono with kasuri carp and nets. Carp are associated with masculine strength and ambition.
Shown above is an early 20th century girl’s kimono with kasuri tea bowls, vases, chrysanthemums, and bamboo.
Shown above is a 20th century girl’s kimono with kasuri stripes and squared spirals.
Shown above is a 19th century girl’s kimono with kasuri plaid design.
According to the display:
“The blue is from indigo, a dye that only came into widespread use in Japan in the mid-eighteenth century. The soft brown color is from shikon, or purple gromwell, a plant that has been cultivated in Japan since the eighth century as a dye and medicine.”
Shown above is a 19th century boy’s kimono with kasuri arrowheads. This kimono is a unique produce of Amami Ōshima, a small island far to the southwest of mainland Japan.
According to the display:
“The silk for a kimono is first woven into a temporary fabric as a way to create the minute patterns. The garment is then stained some thirty times with the pulp of a local plum tree, giving it a berry color, before being buried in iron-rich mud. The mud reacts with the tannins in the tree dye to create the dark brown color; it also gives the silk a special softness and sheen.”
Shown above is a 19th or early 20th century bathing towel with design of crane, minogame tortoise, fan, pine, bamboo, and plum blossoms. This towel is for drying and wrapping an infant after a bath. The motifs are symbols of longevity.
Shown above is a 19th century miyamairi kimono with family crests and designs of rabbits and waves. This kimono could be for either a girl or a boy. The miyamairi kimono is intended for a child’s first visit to a Shinto shrine.
Shown above is a mid-19th century boy’s kimono with family crests and scene of the warrior Nitta Yoshisada throwing his sword into the sea. This garment would have been a highly prized heirloom.
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Shown above is a 19th century boy’s miyamairi kimono with family crest and designs of birds of prey and waves. The birds of prey indicate wishes for a young boy to grow up healthy, courageous, and strong. The design was created with a free-hand method of paste-resist dyeing and hand painting.
Shown above is a 19th century padded miyamairi boy’s kimono with family crests and eagles, pines, peonies, and other auspicious motifs. Eagles symbolize masculine strength; pines longevity; and peonies abundance. This is a formal ceremonial garment.
Shown above is a 19th century miyamairi girl’s kimono with family crests and auspicious motifs.
Shown above is a 19th century padded miyamairi kimono with family crests and cranes, minogame tortoises, pines, rocks, and bamboo. The motifs are symbols of longevity
Shown above is a boy’s kimono with designs of trucks, motorcycles, and racing cars. This is from the 1920s or 1930s.
Shown above is a boy’s kimono with designs of teddy bears, ships, planes, and tanks. This is from the 1950s.
Shown above is a 20th century boy’s padded kimono with design of snowmen, penguins, sailors, and the Japanese flag.
Shown above is a 19th miyamairi girl’s kimono with kasuri paulownia leaves and stylized phoenixes. The motifs are symbols of immortality.
Shown above is a 19th miyamairi girl’s kimono with kasuri paulownia leaves and stylized phoenixes. The motifs are symbols of immortality.