Book Cover (Moru-te Kaki-mon)

Out of meibutsu-gire, or specialty cloth, there are fabrics made in Mughal Empire (1526-1858) woven with gold and silver chenille yarns and imported into Japan in the early modern age. Such fabric was called moru in Japan, like gold moru that were woven with gold chenille yarn and silver-moru with silver chenille yarn. Many of their motives were flowering plants and fruits of the tropical area showing a full of exotic atmosphere that are quite different from the designs of donsu, a damask, and kinran, a gold brocade, both of which were imported from China. The design of this warp patterned brocade depicts the tropical flowers placed vertically woven with the golden chenille-like yarn in an exquisite harmony of gynoecia and androecia.