Tie-dyed Dofuku Jacket with Clove Pattern
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, decorative jackets like the one displayed here were often presented by wealthy and influential lords to subordinates as a sign of gratitude for their service. This dofuku jacket is made of yellow silk lined with cotton, and decorated with three tie-dyed horizontal lines of red with sawtooth edges. Within the red lines, four-petal rhombic flower patterns in hexagons alternate with bellflower patterns in circles, both yellowish-green on a white background. The yellow sections are adorned with large clove patterns in hues of purple, white, and yellow. The dyeing technique used represented the pinnacle of artisanal skill at the time, and the ample use of silk and colored dyes suggests that the item was produced at significant expense.
The jacket was a gift from shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867, to a miner by the name of Yasuhara Denbei. In 1603, a mine tunnel operated by Yasuhara at Iwami Ginzan produced a remarkable 13.5 tons of silver for the shogunate—a contribution so great that the miner was granted an audience with the shogun, who on that occasion presented him with the dofuku. The jacket therefore reminds us of the importance of the silver mine to the ruling regime, whose finances were directly dependent on the amount of precious metals produced by Iwami Ginzan and other mines throughout the realm. The dofuku displayed here is a reproduction; the original is designated an Important Cultural Property and held by the Kyoto National Museum.