A silk kimono featuring exotic 'shou-chiku-bai'( pine tree, bamboo and ume blossom) motifs created using the shibori technique. 51" from sleeve-end to sleeve-end x 61" height. The ensemble of pine, bamboo and plum blossoms are all symbols of winter, long life, and the cultured person, are termed the "Three Friends of Winter" by the Japanese. All the pattern-work on this kimono was created by a form of shibori called "so-hitta", an overall finely-knotted tie-die. This extravagant technique could - as in this case - splendid results, but was extremely time-consuming and expensive. The mere preparation of such a kimono for dyeing required up to a year, and the work required continuity - any work interruption during the months of work could result in irreparable alteration of the evenness of the results. The technique and design of this kimono harkens back to similar extant late 18th century examples found in a few museums -- this style was rare by the time of the Meiji and Taisho periods.