SOMETSUKE OBI

I suspect this is something you don't see every day, it is a traditional off white silk obi with a brushed design by none other than Tomimoto Kenkichi.  Painted in three distinct tones of blue imitating his brilliant sometsuke painting, this quaint and quiet scene is one of Tomimoto's classic designs and can be seen on a number of his pottery pieces from stoneware, slipware and porcelain in blue and white decoration.  Tomimoto was a rather diverse artist and is known for everything from printmaking to pottery with a number of kimono and obi that he designed and/or decorated being extant. I realize that this is not exactly pottery related other than in a circuitous manner but in Japanese arts each thing is related to another in both direct and subtle ways and it is quite easy to image Tomimoto decorating using this design on a piece of porcelain as easily as it is to imagine him decorating this somewhat unique obi.

"Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." John W. Gardner