Tom in London (asker) Oct 11, 2019:

Yes... ...and in fact after a lot of googling I found a photograph of the interior being described (but which unfortunately I can't attach here). The whol kimono, with its obi, is carefully folded into a very large rectangle with various tassles and folds hanging down and - guess what - a small piece of lace. So my points will go to toasty as having made the best-targeted suggestion ! Thanks to everyone else too. I think I've solved the problem. But TOASTY - for me to give you the points you need to make a "suggestion":

Neptunia Oct 11, 2019:

From looking at pics of how obi are displayed, it seems like there are often braided cords and tassels (maybe related to the obijime cords that tie on the obi) hanging next to the obi. The obi hangs from a short pole or sometimes more elaborate holder/hanger. Could the braided cord be the gran gala and the holder be the maniglia?

Tom in London (asker) Oct 11, 2019:

Yes, possible... ..because in general the construction of the sentences in the text is - to say the least - weird. One possible way of punctuating the phrase might be "appeso a una maniglia, con una gran gala, c’è un obi intessuto d’oro".

toasty Oct 11, 2019:

could they mean the embellishment is on the obi? You probably want to ask for a picture and just base your description off the image rather than the text, but what if the sentence is read in this way: ""appeso a una maniglia c’è un obi intessuto d’oro con una gran gala", where 'gala' is 'trina' or 'pizzo'?

Tom in London (asker) Oct 11, 2019:

Ma... ..."con una gran gala" ??

Comunque è un suggerimento interessante

dandamesh Oct 11, 2019:

potrebbe essere anche appeso alla maniglia “in pompa magna”/“in bella vista” c’è un obi..

Tom in London (asker) Oct 11, 2019:

I don't know, Roberta - that is the problem If it does mean "a piece of cloth", i don't understand how an "obi" (which is a sash for a Japanese kimono) could be suspended by another piece of cloth. The text is completely unclear. But thanks!

dandamesh Oct 10, 2019:

Concordo con ornamento di tessuto https://dizionari.repubblica.it/Italiano/G/gala.html?refresh...

Roberta Broccoletti Oct 10, 2019:

gala Good evening, Mr Tom, just a question but with the term "gala"you mean a tissue, a piece of cloth? Roberta