Kesa – outer robes worn by Buddhist priests, draped under one arm and fastened at the opposite shoulder – are thought to be modeled after a garment the Buddha's mother made for him. Over time, kesa evolved from humble wrappers made of rough cloth to intricate, sumptuous creations ceremoniously passed from master to disciple.
In Japan during the Edo and Meiji periods, they were sometimes pieced together from robes used in Noh theater, such as the karaori, a small-sleeved inner robe worn by women. The four stunning Japanese kesa reproduced here, dating from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries, are made from patchwork squares of patterned silks (nishiki) brocaded with strips of metallic paper.
All are from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
