Robe with design of snow-covered bamboo

Robes with small sleeve openings, or kosode, are the predecessor to the modern kimono. During the Edo period (1615–1868), men and women of all social levels wore kosode, but the sumptuous decoration of this example suggests a wealthy owner, most likely a woman of the merchant or warrior class.

The fabric is a soft silk satin damask woven with a delicate pattern of bats and other auspicious emblems. An overall embroidered design of snow-covered bamboo, a symbol of resilience, is complemented by festive clusters of fir branches, flowering paulownia, and blossoms, each bound with tasseled orange cords. Some of the embroidery on the blossoms has been lost with the passage of time.