Noh robe with design of butterfly, pampas grass, and cloud

Noh theatre began in the fourteenth century and developed under the patronage of high-ranking samurai. Shoguns and local lords spent money on all aspects of Noh, especially extravagant stage costumes like this blue and red patterned robe. This robe's ground is further decorated with a floating pattern of butterflies and pampas grasses woven with discontinuous supplementary patterning wefts (karaori). Although this robe may appear feminine to some contemporary eyes, it was actually worn by a male actor in the title role in the Noh play Butterfly (Kocho).

The patterned ground consisting of large, alternating blocks of two colors (dangawari) was popular in Noh garments from the Edo period to modern times. It is created by dyeing the warp, or vertical, threads and matching the main weft, or horizontal, threads in blue and red colors. Where changes from one color to the other did not occur precisely as planned, the red or blue spills over the boundaries of the blocks, making soft gradations of colors in these areas. These so-called "bleedings" are appreciated by many people.