Japanese Ceremonial Silk Wall Tapestry – The Hanada-Hyōtan, Gold Gourd Vase in Azure Blue

One gold vase. One azure ground. The oldest good fortune symbol in the collection.

The Hanada-Hyōtan is mounted from a Japanese ceremonial silk obi in Hanada (縹色) — clear azure blue, one of the oldest named colours in the Japanese language, the colour of high sky and of the ancient Chinese and Japanese ceramic glazes that Nishijin weavers spent centuries trying to reproduce in silk. The ground is finely textured, the horizontal weave structure creating a luminous rhythm across the surface so that the blue shifts between depth and brightness as the light changes. Against it stands a single Hyōtan (瓢箪) — the double-gourd vessel, rendered in burnished gold — with hand-painted Tsubaki (椿) camellia blossoms adorning its body. The Hyōtan is one of the oldest auspicious symbols in the Japanese visual vocabulary: the double-gourd form represents good fortune, prosperity and health, and has appeared on imperial crests, Noh theatre costumes and the mon family emblems of the great feudal lords. On a ceremonial obi in azure silk it is a statement of concentrated symbolic weight, delivered with complete compositional economy — one object, one ground, one meaning.

At the atelier we cut a length from the 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 Hanada-Hyōtan is the most graphically immediate piece in the collection — bold enough to anchor a large wall, restrained enough not to dominate a smaller space. The azure works with white, warm gold, natural brass, pale stone, dark navy and the full range of blue-and-white interiors from Delftware to Scandinavian. It belongs wherever a single strong, considered motif is what a room needs — the entrance of a residence, a study, the lobby of a small luxury hotel, the principal wall of a fine-dining restaurant.

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 obi, woven Hanada (縹色) azure ground with hand-painted Hyōtan (瓢箪) in burnished gold
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.