An unlined meisen silk summer kimono featuring repeating wave and thistle motifs. 49" from sleeve-end to sleeve-end x 62" height. The thistle is a rare motif in Japanese art, and the it is uncertain whether its presence here was meant to be decorative or auspicious. The alternating blue and white wave motifs - the main theme on this summer kimono - are of a type halfway between abstract "sei-gai-ha" ones with their concentric semicircles, and the realistic ones such as created on the woodblock print "The Great wave of Kanagawa" by the artist Hokusai. of Waves and spray, called "araumi". are accomplished here in the simplest of ways. The wave has been a favorite motif among Japanese artists for centuries, perhaps because the island of Japan in a huge sea, and also because of the Japanese love of nature and the forces within it.