Hand-Painted Morning Glory & Moonflower Linen Wall Tapestry – Kyoto Japan

Morning Glories & Moonflowers — 朝顔夕顔図

A beautiful hand-painted Japanese textile depicting asagao (morning glories) and yūgao (moonflowers) winding gracefully across natural linen.

Fine curling vines travel freely through the composition, with softly shaded leaves and delicate flowers giving way to brilliant blue morning glories. A slender stem and dragonfly add a wonderfully light touch of movement.

The artist makes extensive use of the natural linen itself, allowing large areas to remain undecorated. This generous negative space is an important part of traditional Japanese aesthetics, giving the vines room to wander and creating a composition that feels tranquil, airy and distinctly Japanese.

The design is hand-painted rather than mechanically printed, so the character of the brushwork remains visible against the natural texture of the linen.

The Flowers of a Japanese Summer

The name 朝顔夕顔図 — Asagao Yūgao-zu brings together two classic flowers of the Japanese summer.

Asagao (朝顔) — literally “morning face” — is the Japanese morning glory, opening in the cool hours of the morning. Morning glories became especially popular during the Edo period, when enthusiasts cultivated an extraordinary variety of forms and colours.

Yūgao (夕顔) — “evening face” — opens toward evening, creating a poetic counterpart to the morning-blooming asagao.

Together with the dragonfly, the climbing vines evoke the fleeting beauty and lush growth of the Japanese summer. The maker recommends the design particularly for display from May through August.

Choose Noren or Tapestry

This design is available in two formats.

The Noren is the larger version, measuring 88 × 150 cm. Its two linen panels are divided vertically through the centre, allowing it to be hung traditionally across a doorway or entrance. It also makes a striking large-scale textile artwork when displayed against a wall.

The Tapestry measures 45 × 150 cm and presents the same theme in a slender vertical composition. Its narrow proportions make it especially attractive in an alcove, hallway, entrance or on a narrow wall where a conventional picture might not work.

Both are made from 100% linen and individually hand-painted in Kyoto, Japan.

Made in Kyoto

This textile comes from Man’yōsha, whose decorative noren and tapestries are produced in Kyoto using the skills of specialist Japanese craftspeople.

These are not reproductions of antique textiles, but contemporary Japanese works that continue traditional decorative aesthetics through natural materials, handwork, seasonal imagery and an appreciation of empty space.

The result is something that works equally well in a traditional Japanese setting or as a quiet accent in a contemporary interior.