Rendered from a rare 1915 five-volume set, this all-encompassing design treasury captures the graceful beauty of traditional Japanese motifs. These 100 full-color plates—many with multiple images—range from ornate florals and elegant cranes to dragons and Buddhas, and from Silk Road imports to Edo-style textile patterns. A veritable grammar of Japanese ornament, this compilation includes an Introduction, Chronology, and Bibliography, as well as captions translated from the original Japanese notes. In addition to their applications for fabric and wallpaper designs, these vivid royalty-free images are ideal for a tremendous variety of graphics projects, and are, in addition, a treat for connoisseurs of Japanese art.
The following catalogue reproduces the original text by Kawanabe Masao, with short descriptive annotations added for a number of the Plates. In the 1975 reprint of Great Mirror of Japanâs Decoration,
buchi Takemi remarked upon the numerous discrepancies in the original, and these have been noted wherever relevant. However, it is not the intent of this edition to verify each of Kawanabe and
buchiâs notations. All Japanese names appear in traditional orderâlast name preceding first nameâand all Japanese terms and names that have entered into English usage appear in the anglicized form, unless in original Japanese citations (e.g., Tokyo, not Tokyo). The original text was divided into five sections, arranged chronologically, and introduced by colophons by Japanese cognoscenti such as the Imperial Household minister, Hijikata Hisamoto (Shinzan, 1833â1918) and the celebrated literati painter Tomioka Tessai (1836â1924). [Translatorâs note]
Volume 1. Suiko[552â645]to Tenpy
[729â749]eras19
Calligraphic inscription: sh
h
(âthe fragrance of many flowersâ), dated Spring 1915 and signed âthe 83-year-old Shinzanâ (Shinzan is the art name of Hijikata Hisamoto)
Plate 1. (right to left, top to bottom): aâb. Designs from low-relief (usunikubori) tile decorations from the time of Empress Suiko (two designs across top); c. Designs from applied low-relief decoration on Buddhist halo and canopy (tengai), H
ry
ji (three designs, second row right); d-f. Low-relief design on halo for Buddhist statue, H
ry
ji (two designs, second row left; third row); g. Painted sections from board placed under the eaves (noki-ita) of a canopy (tengai), H
ry
ji; h-i. Applied open-worked designs, one section of a Buddhist banner (kanj
ban), H
ry
ji
Plate 2. Designs from metal fittings, Tamamushi (no) zushi, H
ry
ji (various examples)
Plate 3. Designs from Buddhist gilt bronze altar fittings and implements, T
daiji (various examples)
Plate 4. Patterns from gilt-bronze banner(s), listed in the register of Imperial treasures (gomotsu), formerly at H
