item details
Overview
This quilted, Prussian blue dressing gown is an example of a Japanese-made luxury item produced for the European market. This type of robe is also known as a 'Yokohama robe' after the Japanese port from which the garments were exported.
It was originally owned by Mrs Ranish, the wife of Harry Ranish of Wright, Ranish and Co., a Wellington-based firm which specialised in the manufacture of high quality billiard tables. Born in Austria, Mr Ranish arrived in New Zealand in 1887 and established Wright, Ranish and Co in 1892.
The dressing gown is full length, and fastens centre front with seven white silk frogs and toggles and is shaped to form a flared train at the back. The gown is embellished across the shoulders and down the front with an embroidered pattern of flowers and foliage. The collar and cuffs are similarly embellished. The two pockets are embroidered with a swallow, in brown, white and plum, white flowers and foliage. Whereas the body of the garment is hand quilted on the vertical, the collar, cuffs and pockets have been machined quilted on the diagonal. The dressing gown is lined with a fine, off-white silk.
Similar garments can be found in museum collections world-wide, testimony to their popularilty and the scale of their production.