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X2008.6.42 Cloth
Object Name: Cloth
Place of Origin: Japan; nineteenth century
Dimensions: L: 60.3 cm (25 in), W: 33.7 cm (13.2 in) | Total length and width of kasuri cloth on backing cloth:
Total length: 114.2 cm (44.96 in), Total width: 33.7 cm (13.2 in)
Medium/Materials: Cotton; double ikat
Credit Line: Fowler Museum. Krauss Collection of Japanese Textiles
Accession Number: X2008.6.42
Shojo, also known as sake imps, have appeared as felicitous characters in Noh theater since at least the sixteenth century. On stage, the shojo dance and sing the praises of sake. Their defining characteristic is their long, flaming red hair an effect that can’t really be captured with indigo-dyed ikat. To Japanese viewers before the era of modern hair-coloring products, this color gave the shojo an otherworldly appearance and marked them as supernatural beings.
Source: Gallery wall text from the exhibition Fowler in Focus: Japanese Pictorial Ikats from the Krauss Collection, 2012
