Formal kimono with design of chrysanthemums and fowlsDivided dyeing (somewake) on plain-weave silk (habutae)

Uzan Kimura produced this formal kimono in 1935. He was born in Kanazawa in 1891. At the age of 14 he began to study the technique of dyed pictures, a Kanazawa specialty.

Since the Edo period, Kanazawa had been a center of crafts such as ceramics, laqueware, metalwork and dyeing, as well as other arts, including the tea ceremony and Noh plays. This tradition continued through the Meiji period. In 1921, the Ishikawa Prefectures Industrial Art Promotion Association (the Ishikawa-ken Kogei Shorei-kai) was established to promote and improve the industrial arts and the training of craftspeople. The Industrial Art Promotion Association Exhibition was first held in 1922, enabling craftspeople to compete by exhibiting their creations.

Kimura began to exhibit his work in 1921. He exhibited at the 1926 Ministry of Commerce Art Exhibition (the Shoko-sho Bijutsu-ten) in Tokyo, where his work was selected for special commendations. He continued to present his works in the Ministry of Education's Art Exhibition (the Bunten), the Imperial Art Academy's Exhibition (the Teiten), the Nitten and the Japanese Traditional Industrial Art Exhibition (the Nihon Dento Kogei-ten). In 1955, kimura was designated a holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Asset in Yuzen dyeing.

This work was produced in Kimura's prime, and is very rich in individuality and artistic merit.

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Formal kimono with design of chrysanthemums and fowlsDivided dyeing (somewake) on plain-weave silk (habutae)

Created in 1935 by Uzan Kimura, holder of an "Important Intangible Cultural Asset"