Kimono
Category
Costume
Date
1875
Materials
Silk
Measurements
950 x 400 mm
Order this imageCollection
Smallhythe Place, Kent
NT 1118823
Caption
The kimono is the traditional garment of Japan, worn since the 16th century. The colour and pattern of each kimono conveys a specific cultural meaning. The silk crêpe of this child’s kimono is decorated with a stylised hemp leaf (asa no ha) design, originally bright red. Hemp was used for making textiles in Japan but, because it was a fast-growing, resilient plant, it was also associated with healthy children, so the design has an auspicious connotation. Edith ‘Edy’ Craig (1869–1947) wore this tiny kimono when she was six (NT 1122635), having received it as a gift from the artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). He bought it at the London department store Liberty & Co., which specialised in imported Japanese goods. The daughter of actress Ellen Terry (1847–1928) and architect Edward William Godwin (1833–86), Craig was brought up in a home filled with art, objects and dress informed by the values of the Aesthetic Movement, which took inspiration from Japanese culture. She grew up to become an acclaimed theatre designer, producer and activist for women’s suffrage. Emile de Bruijn and Emma Slocombe
Summary
A child's kimono of silk crêpe made in Japan from cream fabric printed with a red stylised hemp leaf (asa no ha) design. It is lined with silk and interlined with soft kapok or raw cotton and has padding at the hem. It was worn by Edith (Edy) Craig (1869–1947) when she was about six. Her mother, the actress Ellen Terry (1847–1928), received it as a gift from the artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). It is likely to have been purchased at the London department store Liberty & Co. c.1875.
Full description
The kimono, literally ‘thing to wear’, is a type of long, straight-seamed Japanese robe, worn with one side wrapped over the other in front, secured with a sash (obi), and having bag-like sleeves. It developed into more or less its present form, used by both sexes, during the Muromachi period (1392–1573), particularly in the 16th century. However, it only came to be called ‘kimono’ during the later 19th century, to distinguish it from the Western modes of dress which were then being introduced in Japan. While the form of a kimono is relatively simple, the decoration of the fabric tends to be complex, including subtle or bold colour contrasts, different degrees of abstraction and the depiction of various cultural references. The silk crêpe of this child’s kimono features a stylised hemp leaf (asa no ha) design, originally bright red. Hemp was used for making textiles in Japan but, because it was a fast-growing, resilient plant, it was also associated with healthy children, so the design resonates on several levels. Edith (Edy) Craig (1869–1947) was photographed by Herbert Watkins (1828 - 1916) in 1875 wearing this this small kimono over a white cotton day dress when she was six (NT 1122635). A miniature of Edy wearing the kimono, painted at around the same time, captures the vibrancy of the original bright red hemp leaf pattern printed on the silk (NT 1117224). The kimono was a gift from the America-born artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), who based himself in London and Paris. He championed a style founded in the principle ‘art for art’s sake’, and his paintings and prints were influenced by the aesthetics of Japanese art. He was a friend of Edy’s parents actress Ellen Terry (1847–1928) and architect Edward William Godwin (1833–86). He is believed to have bought the Kimono at the London department store Liberty & Co., which specialised in imported Japanese goods. Terry recalled her friendship with Whistler and the gift of the Kimono in her memoirs, ‘I knew Whistler…He sent my little girl a tiny Japanese kimono when Liberty was hardly a name…there was something about [him]…more instantaneously individual and audacious than it is possible to describe.’ (Craig and St. John 1933). Edith Craig was brought up in a home filled with art, objects and dress informed by the values of the Aesthetic Movement, which took inspiration from Japanese culture. She grew up to become an acclaimed theatre designer, producer and activist for women’s suffrage. She often challenged convention, working for the Actresses’ Franchise League is support of votes for women and living with her long-term partners Christopher St John (1871-1960) and Clare (Tony) Atwood (1866-1962) at Smallhythe Place, a home she inherited from her mother (Conroy, 2025).
Provenance
Given to Ellen Terry for Edith Craig by James McNeill Whistler. Probably bought at Liberty's, c.1875.
References
Terry, Ellen,. Ellen Terry's memoirs 1933., p.101. Antrobus and Slocombe 2025: Helen Antrobus and Emma Slocombe, 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the collections of the National Trust, National Trust 2025, pp. 122-123.