Japanese Ceremonial Silk Wall Tapestry – The Anzu-Botan, Botan Peony in Apricot and Magenta

A single peony, caught at the moment of opening. Painted once on apricot silk.

The Anzu-Botan is mounted from a hand-painted Japanese ceremonial silk obi in Anzu-iro (杏色) — apricot, the colour of the fruit at peak ripeness, warm and flushed and carrying just enough depth to hold a room without pushing against it. Against this ground a single Botan (牡丹) — the Japanese tree peony, the flower the imperial court named Hyakka no Ō (百花の王), the king of the hundred flowers — has been painted freehand in the Yuzen tradition with Bokashi (暈し) gradient blending: a technique in which colours are allowed to bleed and dissolve into one another at the edge of each petal, so that the transition from deep magenta at the base of the bloom to translucent blush pink at the outermost petal is not a drawn line but a dissolution. Sage green foliage frames the Botan at the lower edge — painted with the same freehand confidence — anchoring the warmth of the apricot with the one note of cool that keeps the composition from becoming sweet.

At the atelier we cut a length from the painted obi, redesigned the composition for vertical wall format, and lined the back with undyed support cloth. The piece is mounted between handmade hardwood bars at the top and bottom, finished with a leather hanging cord, and supplied ready to hang. The bars are part of the work, not a separate purchase. The painted surface is preserved as it was made.

The Anzu-Botan is the warmest and most intimate piece in the collection. The Anzu-iro apricot ground reads as a near-neutral in warm light — it does not announce itself as pink or orange or gold, but as all three held lightly. It belongs in a master bedroom, a dressing room, a well-lit bathroom, the suite of a small luxury hotel furnished for intimacy. The palette pairs with dusty rose, warm terracotta, aged brass, natural linen, pale oak, and the particular quality of morning light through linen curtains. The buyer who chooses the Anzu-Botan is not looking for drama — they are looking for something that will still be exactly right in ten years.

Renaras: existing Japanese ceremonial silk, preserved at gallery scale and brought into rooms where it can be seen.

Each tapestry arrives with its own passport from the atelier — a handmade record of the obi's first life, the composition that was cut from it, the lining and mounting it received, signed and dated in Amsterdam.

Material: Japanese ceremonial silk, Yuzen Bokashi (友禅暈し) hand-painted on Anzu-iro (杏色) apricot ground
Dimensions: Approx. 100 × 35 cm displayed
Construction: Cut and redesigned from a Japanese ceremonial silk obi, lined to support the silk threads, mounted on handmade hardwood bars and finished with a leather hanging cord. Bars and cord supplied. No metal touches the visible silk.
Care: Dust with a soft brush. Avoid direct sunlight.
Origin: Japanese ceremonial silk, redesigned and finished at the Renaras atelier, Netherlands.

Each tapestry arrives complete with its mounting hardware. For private viewings and hospitality enquiries, contact the atelier.

One silk. One story. One piece. Never repeated.