Title
- Plant pattern (shokubutsu monyō 植物文様): paulownias, chrysanthemums and blades of grass
Collection
Period | Style | School
Material | Technique
Inventory number
- OR 3925-8656
Acquisition
- assumption , 1907
Department
- Asia Collection
Description
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"Dyed ground" (jizomari 地染).
The paulownia motif (kiri 桐) symbolizes purity, happiness, and prosperity. Because a Chinese legend supposedly says that the phoenix only ensconces on a paulownia, it also symbolizes high status and was used as the 'private' crest of the imperial family. After the Meiji Restoration, the paulownia became the emblem of the Japanese government as the "5-7 Paulownia" (go-shichi (no) kiri 五七桐).
The chrysanthemum (kiku 菊) symbolizes longevity, which dates back to a Chinese legend. The Yellow River once originated in a chrysanthemum meadow, and a villager who drank from the spring achieved a long life. In Japan, the motif first appears in the Kokin-wakashū 古今和歌集 (early 10th century), while the Man’yōshū 万葉集 from the 8th century lists 157 plant species but does not contain a single poem about chrysanthemums. It is therefore assumed that the flower was first introduced to Japan from China at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century.
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stencil (katagami 型紙), Plant pattern (shokubutsu monyō 植物文様): paulownias, chrysanthemums and blades of grass, Anonym, MAK Inv.nr. OR 3925-8656
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https://sammlung.mak.at/en/collect/plant-pattern-shokubutsu-monyo-植物文様-paulownias-chrysanthemums-and-blades-of-grass_362741
Last update
- 18.02.2026
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