Nō Costume (nuihaku) with Design of Landscapes and Floral Vines

Made from red silk crêpe (chirimen), this nuihaku robe was stamped with gold leaf over adhesive (inkin). It was then embroidered with landscapes and floral vines using multicolored floss silk. Nuihaku is a type of Nō costume for plays with young female protagonists. Often decorated like this example, they were originally worn as outer garments during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573–1603).

In the Edo period (1615–1868), landscapes and scenic features associated with Nō plays were incorporated into nuihaku designs. Such motifs impart the narrative quality of pictorial scrolls and embody a Japanese sensibility distinct from traditional Chinese auspicious symbols. This may also be discerned in the embroidery, where the unspun threads were loosely looped to highlight the silk’s natural sheen.