The Koki-Ran — Japanese Ceremonial Silk Wall Tapestry, White Orchid in Imperial Purple

One colour. One flower. The most restrained piece in the collection.

At a glance: A monochrome obi in deep imperial purple with hand-painted white orchids, mounted between hardwood bars at about 100 × 35 cm. The most restrained piece in the collection; one exists. Japanese ceremonial silk, finished at the Renaras atelier, Amsterdam; ships worldwide.

The Koki-Ran is mounted from a rare monochrome Japanese ceremonial silk obi in Koki-murasaki (深紫) — deep imperial purple, the colour historically reserved in Japan for the highest court ranks and the most senior Buddhist clergy, a colour that existed at the intersection of temporal power and spiritual authority and was, for most of Japanese history, simply not available to anyone else. The silk is finely ribbed, the texture catching and releasing light along the length of each thread so that the purple field is never flat but always in quiet movement. Against this single ground a cluster of Ran (蘭) white orchid blooms has been painted freehand — pale petals rendered with complete economy of line against the deep void, floating with the particular weightlessness only hand-painting on silk achieves. Nothing else. The composition is the result of deciding that everything unnecessary has already been removed.

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 acquisition. The painted surface is preserved as it was made.

The Koki-Ran is the most architecturally confident piece in the collection. The deep purple works with charcoal, warm white, pale oak, aged silver and every neutral that benefits from a single note of controlled intensity. It belongs on a wall that can hold it — a principal bedroom, a considered study, a hallway with strong natural light, the lobby of a hotel where one decisive object replaces the conventional welcome installation. The buyer who chooses it has already decided that less is more and is not interested in being persuaded otherwise.

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.

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.