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- In 1700 these was a great fire and more than ten thousand Nishijin looms were destroyed and, as a result, the Kyoto weavers left to other parts of Japan, giving away many of their textile weaving secrets. With the opening up of Japan to foreign trade during the Meiji period, the quality of textile production declined somewhat with the introduction of cheap aniline dyes and poor quality gold and silver thread which tarnished and darkened easily.
The kesa of Period Three often used secular painting scrolls and painted screens for inspiration of kesa in a tapestry weave called tsuzure-ori. With this type, the entire length for the kesa was a whole pictorial image which would be divided in panels by over sewing with thick metal-wrapped thread or cords, or painted lines were used to simulate the characteristic patchwork. These types of pictorial kesa were unique to Period Three. Another method involved simulating the borders of the patches in the weave itself. In another more complex method, the panels of a kesa would be individually woven and then sewn into a complete pictorial scene, thus giving the false impression of being one piece of fabric.
Some other characteristics of kesa of Period Three include the following: Secular garments donated by the lay population, largely the aristocracy, were used for making kesa and as a result the patchwork kesa of this period com�prise examples of some of the most lavish and gorgeous textiles made in Japan. They would glitter with gold and silver thread embroidery and were saturated with brilliant colours. Embroidery of the Edo period is some of the finest known. It was worked in fabric that was tightly stretched on a frame. Gold thread was made by wrapping thin, narrow strips of paper covered with gold leaf around silk thread. It was necessary to couch the gold thread to the surface of the fabric because both the thread and fabric could be damaged if the thread were drawn. Sometimes the kesa mantles were made from pieces of cast-off Noh theatrical costumes or ceremonial court robes or elegant and magnificent short-sleeved kimono called kosode, which were often be�queathed to make kesa by wealthy devotees. In the latter case, the family crest (mon) could sometimes be found incorporated into the kesa. The rich�ness of the decoration of the kesa attests to the giver's wealth and affluence and reflects the taste of the aristocratic minority of Japan. Kesa are ingenious works of art incorporating a wide variety of new techniques and styles and often combine resist dyeing with embroidery, painting, and gilding in pro�cesses known as yuzen and kaga. The textiles used to make kesa in Period Three were almost purely Japanese and almost entirely produced at two locations: Kyoto and Edo (modern Tokyo).
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