This summer meisen kimono features a bold repetition of yabane (arrow feather) patterns in deep teal against cream backgrounds, each containing stylized camellia blossoms rendered in golden yellow with coral-pink centers. This systematic repetition reflects the influence of Art Deco's emphasis on geometric rhythm and machine-age aesthetics, while the motifs themselves maintain profound cultural resonance within Japanese symbolic traditions.

The yabane pattern carries protective and directional symbolism, traditionally associated with driving away evil influences and ensuring straight, purposeful progress through life. The integration of camellia blossoms—flowers that bloom in winter and symbolize endurance, devotion, and refined beauty—creates a sophisticated interplay between geometric structure and organic form. The meisen weaving technique, with its characteristic ikat-inspired blurred edges and vibrant synthetic dyes, allows for color effects impossible in traditional hand-dyeing methods, particularly the intense teal blue that dominates the composition.

The overall effect demonstrates how Japanese textile designers successfully synthesized international modernist vocabularies with indigenous aesthetic principles during this period of rapid cultural transformation. The bold scale of the pattern, unusual for traditional kimono design, reflects the influence of Western textile design and the democratic impulses of the emerging middle class, who embraced more assertive visual statements. The unlined summer construction and relatively simple motif repetition made such garments accessible to urban consumers, representing a democratization of fashionable dress that would fundamentally reshape Japanese sartorial culture.

There's a single light stain on the front lapel. Its measurements are 48 inches (122 cm) from sleeve-end to sleeve-end and 56 inches (142 cm) in height.

This artwork is featured on page 270 of Art Kimono: Aesthetic Revelations of Japan, 1905-1960. This book, published by Yorke Antique Textiles, can be previewed or purchased on our website here.

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