Furisode with narrative design (gosho-doki) of scenes from the Noh song entitled "Ashi-kari"Dyeing and embroidery on purple silk crepe (chirimen)
This furisode belonged to the wife of a samurai and is thought to have been produced during the Tempo era in the second quarter of the 19th century. Under the feudal system, the clothes worn by the ruling class and by their subjects were distinctly different.
This furisode is a typical uniform worn by women who waited on samurai, particularly by women who lived in the shogun's inner palace or in the mansions of leading feudal lords. The basic design elements are pine, cherry blossom, plum, peony, maple, chrysanthemums, a stream, and a hut constructed of rushes. Particular passages of well-known historic poems, stories and songs are alluded to by the presence of such items as an ox carriage, screen, cypress fan, crown, horse's bit and stirrups. The landscape elements of water and mountains fill in the background. This design, generally called Gosho-doki pattern, comes in two variations: an all-over pattern in which the design covers the entire garment, and a style in which the upper part is left undecorated while the lower section from the waist down is patterned. The difference in these variations reflected differences in social rank.
A person of high rank wore this garment. The design theme is believed to be "Ashikari", the title of a Noh song, based on the presence of the bamboo hat and bundle of reaped reeds near the ox carriage.
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Furisode with narrative design (gosho-doki) of scenes from the Noh song entitled "Ashi-kari"Dyeing and embroidery on purple silk crepe (chirimen)
The second quarter of the nineteenth century (Late Edo period)
Heirloom of the Okao Family
