Worldly Threads: Japonse Rokken and Self-Fashioning in Dutch-American Portraiture

This article examines the layered history of Japonse rokken, European silk production, and self-fashioning in Dutch-American portraiture. First imported from Japan and subsequently copied by European tailors, Japonse rokken became popular in the Dutch Republic as the Dutch East India Company developed an exclusive trade relationship with Japan. By the early eighteenth century, European weavers had begun producing silks, referred to as indiennes, with dynamic patterns inspired by Asian design motifs. On both sides of the Atlantic, elite Dutchmen fashioned themselves in these silk robes: a ca. 1... Mehr ...