Lisa Pevtzow
Design books were tools of Japan’s kimono trade centered in Kyoto. Inked, printed, and bound by hand, their designs were startling, experimental, aspirational, as well as traditional, reflecting the latest fashions and what was likely worn in real life. Inspired by the natural and the modern worlds (bicycle races, for example), they fuse contemporary Western design with a particularly Japanese sensibility and perspective. Motifs evoke traditional allusions and seasonal metaphors that would be widely known and understood. A pair of ducks signified marital harmony. Cherry blossoms indicated youth and the evanescence of life. The combination of plum blossoms, bamboo, and pine were called the three friends of winter, and represent pure spirit, flexibility, and longevity.
About 20 years ago, I acquired a handful of woodblock books offered for sale by a Japanese textile dealer (I am also a casual collector of textiles). When they arrived, I opened the first one. It depicted a furisode, a kimono for young girls and women with long swinging sleeves. On it, a flock of cranes were taking off against a bold background of black and white stripes. The second depicted two small boys clamming on a beach, the flow of water suggested with shimmering silver and mica highlights. Many images depicted two and three kimono, as if to model that season’s combinations. Collectively, they were an explosion of design. Many of them appear surprisingly current today. Over time, these books, along with the ephemera of the kimono trade (fabric samples, color charts, dyers notebooks, and katagami stencils) have become my passion—understanding who created them, how they were used, and why were they so spectacularly printed.
Kamisaka Sekka. Chigusa (A Thousand Grasses). Kyoto: Unsodo, 1899.
Born to a samurai family in Kyoto, Kamisaka Sekka (1866-1942) is an important and influential Japanese artist of the early 20th century.
Printed originally in subscription editions of three prints, Chigusa is Sekka’s first major work. Crossing the boundaries of art and craft, landscape, still-life, and genre, it is a masterpiece of the printer’s art, using techniques—including embossing, overprinting, metallic powders and thickly applied pigments—to achieve texture, depth and painterly effects.
Kaigai Tennan. Tennan Moyo Kagami (Tennan’s Mirror of Design). Kyoto: Unsodo, 1899.
Kaigai Tennan, an important Japanese painter who excelled at design, illustrated Tennen Moyo Kagami, an important reference work for textile designers, kimono makers and their high-end customers. Its seven volumes reflect an appreciation for color and design. The two haori volumes depict linings for haori, a type of jacket. The hand-dyed lining was a private luxury. Only the haori’s owner and those close to them would ever see it.
Tsuda Seifu. Kamon fu (Ripples). Kyoto: Unkindo, 1900.
Zuan (meaning “design idea” in English) is a term for pure design that could be used as inspiration or as models for textiles, ceramics, lacquer, metalware, etc. Just eighteen years old when the first volume of Kamon fu was published, Seifu's zuan are considered among the most inventive and beautiful of the genre. The energy, variety, and uniqueness of his abstract designs are particularly.
Shimomura Tamahiro. Genroku Furyu Meiji-Buri (Genroku Essence Meiji Style). Kyoto: Unsodo, 1905.
These designs capture Japan’s first modern fashion craze. A byword for elegance, glamour, and sophistication, the Genroku Era (1688-1703) was a golden age of Japanese culture. In 1904, Mitsukoshi, Japan’s first department store, staged a “Genroku revival,” releasing lines of fabrics, combs, even men’s ties and housewares inspired by this flamboyant period.
The illustration depicts a coordinated ensemble suitable for fall or winter, consisting of two kimono layered over an under kimono. The nickname of such compositions, "whose sleeves," hints at a narrative.
Various. Seiei, No. 12 (Elite). Kyoto: Unsodo. 1907.
Showcasing the work of a group of young designers who named themselves the Seiei-kai (the Elite Society), Seiei featured some of Japan’s greatest artist/designers, as well as complete unknowns. Published sporadically in 15 volumes from 1903 to 1907, perhaps only about 100 copies of each volume were printed. Unlike those of Chigusa, the original woodblocks have been lost. Many designs in Seiei are surprisingly bold and modern, an interplay of Western art styles—from art nouveau to avant-garde—seen through a Japanese lens. Illustration by Iwasaki Shoun.