Fowler in Focus: Japanese Pictorial Ikats from the Krauss Collection

January 8–June 24, 2012

Sake-swilling imps, Buddhist saints in the form of pop-up dolls, turtles trailing seaweed as longevity symbols—welcome to the engaging imagery of Japanese e-gasuri, or “picture ikat” cloth. Japanese weavers, like their counterparts in South, Southeast, and Central Asia, mastered the art of ikat, or the resist-dyeing of patterns into yarn before it is woven into cloth. Kasuri is the name of a rustic type of Japanese ikat cloth, almost always dyed deep blue with indigo. E-gasuridesignates kasuri cloth with pictorial motifs.

Fowler in Focus: Japanese Pictorial Ikats from the Krauss Collection features approximately thirty cloths selected from a collection of more than two hundred e-gasuri generously donated to the Fowler by Dr. Jeffery Krauss of Potomac, Maryland.

Press Release

Japanese Pictorial Ikats

Exhibition Credits

This exhibiton is curated by Roy Hamilton, senior curator of Asian and Pacific collections, Fowler Museum.