A JAPANESE SILK KESA (BUDDHIST PRIEST'S ROBE)

A JAPANESE SILK KESA (BUDDHIST PRIEST'S ROBE)

EDO PERIOD, 18TH /19TH CENTURY

Sewn from smaller sections of silk brocade, richly decorated with the Shimazu mon of the Satsuma clan, waves, scrolling clouds, wisteria, peony and scrolling tendrils, all embroidered in gold and polychrome threads on the cream ground, 182cm x 110cm.

Provenance: formerly the collection of Ricardo Rivera Schreiber (1892-1969), Peruvian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1954-63), to Italy (1944-46), to Spain (1943-1944) and Minister Plenipotentiary to China and Japan (1936-41), and thence by descent.