White and Purple silk Wedding Outer Kimono (Uchikake) with red, gold and silver embroidery Very long robe with front insets and a double wide band collar which extends half way down the front; very long sleeves with rounded outer edges, open on body side and at wrists, attached to upper bodice and shoulders; padded hem. Made of white damask satin which has been space dyed in purple wavy cloud-like horizontal bands; the damask woven design is "matsu kawa bishi" representing pine-tree bark. The embroidered design consists of a large peacock on the upper back with a tail that extends over the left shoulder and sleeve; satin stitched, alternating long and short stitches (nagamijika-sahinui) and woven effect (mushiro-nui) in light and orange gold metallic thread with a red tuft on the head and black and white eyes. There is another large peacock stitched on the lower left front with a tail extending around to the back. Large flowers are distributed over the whole surface of the kimono including some on top of the peacocks; they consist of peonies in gold with silver leaves, in red and white with gold stamens and silver leaves, in red outlined with gold couching (komadori-nui) and other abstract flowers in the same colors. Lined with red synthetic? fabric with two white hem protectors basted to the lower front corners of the robe. The Uchikake is worn over the wedding kimono which is often made of white silk.

1998.059.001