Country Textiles of Japan: The Art of Tsutsugaki | Reiko Mochinaga Brandon

History, methodology and motifs of this important resist techniques poplar throughout Japan, Kimonos headpieces, ceremonial banners; their function, techniques, and fabrics.

Tsutsugaki is a method of dyeing cloth using resist agent to create a particular design. Through it has much in common with the more familiar Japanese batik and stencil-dyeing techniques Tsutsugaki is uniquer in a way the dye resin in this case rice paste, is applied to the fabric. Tsutsugaki boasts a long history in both cities and the countryside. This book brings to light the little-known country tsutsugaki tradition, distinctive for its ceremonial textiles. Bridal bed covers decorated with the felicitous crane and tortoise, chest covers and special wrapping cloths f keep indigo bearing family crests in w white, baby towels with a patch of red to ward off sickness, brightly colored boy’s Day banners heralding a male child, all vividly express the special pride ad joy of country folk at times of celebration.

These celebratory country textiles are stunningly reproduce in 48 plates, 16 in full color. The commentaries on the plates detail the history, particular function, design materials, and method of execution fro each piece. Forty-three black and  white photography and lines drawings illustrate the text in which the author traces the history of cotton and indigo cultivation in Japan.

Country Textiles of Japan is a most welcome and thorough  introduction, the fist such study in English to a long-neglected but truly representative Japanese textile tradition.

Condition: New, unused, soft cover, clean and bright without a broken spine.