Japanese Buddhist Priest’s Silk Mantle (kesa) with Guardian King Appliqués, dai-e format composed of 13 vertical panels of varying widths and patches surrounded by a broad border, all of the same sumptuous silk brocade fabric. The golden silk ground has a continuous supplementary weft of multi-coloured flowering plants some with kinran. There are six different orange silk “patches” each with an image of a guardian king executed in copper-gold lamellae kinran technique. The original purple silk lining remains with two points of strap attachments.
Condition: The overall condition suitable for mounting.Some breaks and splits to the silk mostly in the top border, some minor stains otherwise good condition.
Measuring: 46 in. high x 83 in. wide ( 117 x 211 cm)
Edo period, circa 1840.
$950.

Provenance:
The private collection of Ed Hardy, San Francisco.
Abell Auction Los Angeles, 3/5/23, part of lot #580.

For similar examples see:
Joe Earle, Japanese Art and Design, The Toshiba Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, pp. 92-95, #58.
Minneapolis Museum of Art, accession #: 2011.85
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession #:19.93.112 with the following catalog note: “During the making of a kesa, the central column, often larger than the others, is formed first, and the other columns ripple out from the center. This primacy suggests the column's role as the buddha of the mandala, which is often underscored by the presence of the "attendant" squares (niten) that flank the central column. These squares are sometimes said to stand for the bodhisattvas Monju (Sanskrit: Manjushri) and Fugen (Sanskrit: Samantabhadra) or for the two Benevolent Kings (Ni-ō), fierce guardian figures who protect the Buddhist Law. Although it happens only rarely, sometimes the six patches contain woven Sanskrit seed syllables that allow for the identification of the deities. The squares may also feature figural representations of the attendant bodhisattvas and the Guardians of the Four Directions. This kesa contains figural representations of both the Guardians of the Four Directions and the two Benevolent Kings.”