Kara Ori (Chinese motifs) refers to heavy silk brocades often designed with motifs derived from the Japanese-archipelago idea of Chinese motifs. The woven effect is here meant to look embroidered, to denote wealth. Often a Twill-weave silk Brocade, the Glossed Silk weft threads usually denote the design element of the motif. Flatter threads are covered in foil, and bound close to the warp threads. Due to its stiffness, it is said to evoke the drapery of noblewomen in Noh theatre.[1] Many designs heavily feature interlocking floral designs ( Shippo-Tsunagi ) which reference the Buddhist concept of the Seven Treasures, said to bring good luck.
Historically the weave known as Kara-Ori was brought to Japan from Guangdong China by Yazaemon Mizuta ( dates unknown ) in 1235 CE.[4] During this time due to a collapse of power structures in neighbouring China due to civil war, Chinese silks became astronomically expensive with Japanese silk thereby replacing them with copies of Ming designs.[3] This very stiff type of brocade is still commonly associated in Japan as a feature of Chinese Silks. Kara-Ori began as a codified pattern in the Momoyama period (1573-1615) under the tutelage of Hikosaburo Mitsuta (c1485-1573?) to Iemon Takewaka (active 1573-1592), most often a garment worn by the elites or particularly wealthy textile patrons such as Nagamasa Kuroda (1568-1623) which developed into Hakata-Ori.[2][4] The bulk of Western collections go from the early 1700s, often saved due to the elaborate and decorative nature of the textiles for Noh plays which drew Western collector sensibilities to them during their height of collection in the Victorian era. Today, Kara-Ori is mostly regarded as a historical textile and collected and presented as such, and is rarely used in modern design, like other Chinese derived counterparts such as Bashu Brocade.
Bibliography
[1] https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/496-japanese-noh-theatre-garments
[2] https://rcwg.scrippscollege.edu/blog/acquisition-essays/the-highlights-of-the-collection-noh-theater-robe/
[3] http://char.txa.cornell.edu/japantex.htm
[4] https://www.minnanokimono.com/tejido-obi-hakata/
[5] https://collection.artbma.org/objects/41873/buddhist-priests-robe-kesa-in-karaori-with-floral-designs
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