Post Under Construction

Post is currently being researched.

 For now enjoy this picture.

Moyo Hinagata Bon (c1680) The Met 

縮緬 | Chirimen | Crispe | Fabrics #8

Chirimen is a plain woven silk which has a bumpy finish or Shibo, to the touch, with a lotta density. Most Chirimen are worn by older women, and I personally do not like the feel of them, they give me the bejeebies. Specialities like Tango Chirimen is known as a preferential fabric for Yuzen prints for Kimono.[1] Whilst mostly often silk, Chirimen can also be made from Wool or Polyester. It is often used for Kimono, Furoshiki, Kanzashi and as an everyday use sewing fabric.[3] Chirimen is one of the most common fabrics used to make Kimono still.[4]

Modern Mon Chirimen (2015, CC4.0) Naooan

Chirimen is made by using highly twisted undeveloped yarn threads. This becomes a plain weave after being processed through a Hatcho Machine, sometimes Jacquard Looms. Hatcho Machines keep the weft threads wet whilst they spin over the machine to prevent breakage, being spun 3-4000 times a metre of threads. Looser Warps threads are then introduced. After weaving, the textile is checked for sericin (leftover silk worm proteins gunk) and during the removal of sericin, the textile shrinks by around a third. This tightening of alternating threads creates the Shibo effect, like in Shijira-Ori.[2] Factors which affect the final bumpy effect include the amount of weft twisting, fibre denier and the distribution of these across the design frame. For example, weft threads can also be left 'floating', or exposed and knotted, tied off and to create pompom like patterns in the final weave.[1] Tango chirimen uses left hand warp twists (Z-twist) and right hand weft twists (S-twist). Hana or Nagahama chirimen is made by alternating Z-twist and S-twist weft threads.[4][5]

 Types of Chirimen include:  

Kawari Chirimen: Very fine crimping created using one twisted weft thread followed by an un-twisted thread

Hitokoshi Chirimen: Otherwise known as the Nagahama twist, one of the most common Chirimen with a fine alternating twist patterns in the weft [5]

Futakoshi/Kodai Chirimen: Fine crimping patterns formed from two "Z - twist" weft yarns alternating with 2 "S-twist" weft yarns  

Mon Chirimen: Woven to create a pattern which stands out over all the fabric and any printed design [4]  

Historically, Chirimen came to Japan from China at the end of the 1500s when it was brought in by Chinese merchants.[4] Deposited in the Nishijin area of Kyoto, an area known for its textile weaving, it became woven by local weavers. Most of these woven takemono were white, as it was easier for dying rather than being woven in. By 1720, it had spread to Tango Province, today the seaside border of Kyoto, via a Nishijin apprentice, Kinuya Saheiji. By 1754, it had spread to Nagahama, where production reached its height between 1854-1860.[5] The Meji restoration which brought in mechanised production, brought the decline of Chirimen. During the 19th century, Jacquard Looms were introduced into the process to make complex weaves easier to accomplish, in the modern day, punch cards are replaced by computer programming. Between 1912-1926, Chirimen as with many other 'Wafuku' saw a revival in popularity.[5] Modern designers include Reiko Sudo (1953-present).[1] 

Fabrics #9 will be on Nishijin-Ori.

NHK also has a segment on Chirimen : https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/journeys/20210105/2007430/

Bibliography

[1] https://www.japanhouselondon.uk/discover/stories/tango-chirimen/

[2] See Fabrics #7

[3] https://onokimono.com/2017/08/09/what-is-chirimen-crepe-textile/

[4] https://www.rochestertextile.com/post/398841446836/japanese-crepe-fabrics-chirimen-kinsha

[5] http://www.kimono.or.jp/dictionary/eng/hamachirimen.html

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清原雪信 | Kiyohara Kano Yukinobu | 1643-1682 | Bijin #8

And now we return to our regular posting in Japan, with Kiyohara Yukinobu (active 1650-1682), who was a notable Japanese female painter of classical Chinese subjects in Kakemono or hanging scroll paintings in the Kano tradition, under the influence of her mother Kuniko's tutor Kano Tan'yu (1602-1674). Yukinobu work reflects the influence before the Kambun period of Kyoto, by the transition of sites such as Shimabara in Kyoto before the move of popular culture to Edo by the 1670s in figures like Moronobu. Yukinobu was highly successful as an artist in her day, however perhaps only due to her chaste subject matter in comparison to other work by the Enpo era (1673-1681). By Enpo however, she was acknowledged for her role in depicting Classical Beauties, as she is mentioned as an artisan in Ihara Saikaku's Life of an Amorous Woman (1686).

The Poetess Kogo (c.1670) Kiyohara Yukinobu

Yukinobu being a woman, whilst notable for womens studies, is not particularly out of the ordinary for Medieval Japan. Women, like in contemporary England often had more social mobility at this time, and played many different roles as their circumstances permitted than their social mobility in following centuries may lead some to believe. As an artist, Yukinobu helps us understand contemporary womens desires for the androgynous figure and relatable role models, such as her depictions of Murasaki Shikibu, princesses, poetesses and Chinese heroines and heroes. Women commissioned work from Yukinobu, and actively engaged in the beauty standards and morals of the day.[8][9]

Yukinobu is interesting to us, as whilst I define her as the catalyst for other forms of the legitimisation of Ukiyo-E which refer to more traditional forms such as Yukinobu or Matabei, as a way to carry more prestige and weight as respected art mediums, I do not define Yukinobu's work as a definitive image strictly within the Bijinga genre.

Capital Swapping

Between the second half of the 16th century and the second half of the 17th century, Japan had changed completely from the warring states period. With all this, many changes came about around Honshu, and Kyoto, previously where Art and Culture had flourished as it was the Old Capital where the Emperor resided. Under the Stabilisation policies implemented under the Tokugawa government, and with the enforcement of Sankin Kotai a brand new Japanese society with new expectations had formed as younger generations had more leisure time and greater stability than their elders. 

The established order of the Classical stemmed from the geo-socio-politics of the old Capital. As Kyoto was the home of the imperial court and therefore in effect the main seat of national power from 794-1630, local Kyoto culture was regarded as mainstream popular culture.[6][7] Sort of how Bede wrote the History Book, but the Anglo-Saxons get all the Adspace nowadays.  This meant that classical, conservative and traditional appraoches to how beauty, vanity and inevitable human behaviour were codified to meet social and class structures of their day saw to it that the human figure in early 17th century western Kano depictions, whether on fans, screens or lacquer, were rare.

For sanity's sake I have divided this into two branches for a baseline understanding, of pious imagery and consumer based demand which was based around Kyoto and which I address here. The second being affiliated popular culture imagery which reflected the lifestyle of the new Chonin patrons who bought these books and print media in the 1650s/1660s, which will be the basis for Bijin #9.

Views of Kyoto Fan Design (1585) Kano Motohide

Rare becuase it was considered unproper to have human figures depicted in the first, and unfeasible to simply include Heimin beucase the recipients of Kano goods often came from the upper classes of Honshu at this time. Beautiful Heimin were not what devout, worried Daimyo needed at the time. Instead, depictions of Classical figures from the Chinese history books predominated as they could be readily used for religious purposes and were also seen as respectable figures to portray at the time in the conservative world of rigid and bureaucratic Kyoto. 

In time, the depiction of Heimin came in with the Tosa School and their Yamato-E Fuzokuga, but only by the time the Tokugawa legitimacy had become settled. Instead, Kyoto scenes depicting harmonious scenes of nature, Chinese philosophers and a whole lot of gold were more the Kano aesthetic in this pre-Sankin Kotai world. Pop culture as print media, simply did not have the demand required to profligate the idea of an established common beauty until the 1650s, as all demand was in the hands of the elite who required and expected different outcomes in their commissioned art pieces.

The 'Religious' or Classical Beauty

The religious figure had existed therefore for a longer time than pop culture iconography depicting human figures. This figure accompanied Buddhist texts as a pastime for the monks and writers who created Buddhist scriptures and texts and to allow the reader deeper connection with the subject material by placing human figures in the narrative. Over time, it became acceptable to have human figure Kakemono displayed in wealthy peoples homes as a sign of their devout faith by the early 17th century. The Kano school was known for depicting figures the confines of Religious, Confucious and Fuzokuga based on the Classical Chinese texts.

Lan Caihe: Paragon of Filiel Piety; Chinese Blue Magpie with Flowering Plum; Sparrows,Willow and Rose (c.1650-1683) Yukinobu Kano Kiyohara

These Kakemono for examples extolls the virtues of Lan Caihe, one of the 8 immortal Chinese in the Taoist Pantheon who travelled around China as a wandering troubadour. The flowers (and willow on the left), emblematic of Lan's patronage of gardeners, give away clues of androgynous immortal beauties from the Lingzhi mushroom and what I am presuming is Chrysanthemum, with the implicit moral message being one of denouncing worldly or consumerist pleasures, warning that life is short, the pitfalls of immortality and urging listeners to seek the Way of Tao.[1] The Blue Magpie symbolising Happiness, [2] Plum for purity,[3] Sparrows for cautious vigilance or conviction, joy and the coming of spring[4].

Lan Caihe however is non-binary as we would call them today, and the painting can thus be read a little differently to the intention of how its female artist wished the painting to be read. In doing this, Yukinobu symbolically shows us the conviction of Lan Ciahe, but also subtly denotes their beauty by presenting their body in the popular androygnous style and Tang dynasty popular as a subject at the time of painting. This may have a commission therefore, for a Chonin, appropriate for the Ukiyo lifestyle, but also as a presentable excuse to have androgynous beauty displayed as with depictions of Aphrodite Urania in Victorian England for example whilst still being acceptably viable as a virtuous rather than vain image, such as depictions of naked ladies on grand tours were excused away by victorian 'gentlemen' because these were 'pure' bodies who are 'innocent of carnal knowledge' who are now Classical Art. So shush.[5]

Back to Yukinobu, to give context to all of that, Yukinobu as an artist was a highly respected Lady Komin (artisan caste under Confucian value systems). She often worked both for the Kano in earlier years, who saw their works end up in the homes of courtiers and nobles, but she also accepted later on presumably as commission work from nobles became scarcer as their wealth dried up, the commission from wealthy Chonin.[8] Therefore we can deride two main things about beauty standards in the Meireiki, and Manji periods (1655-1661) that Chonin had begun seeking new forms of acceptable art, depicting reputable traditional Buddhist moral values and subjects.

The other takeaway we have here, is that the beauty standard due to the shift in who had the wealth here, meant that as more Chonin put up Kakemono, more Kakemono began depicting saucier subjects and figures. Whilst Yukinobu clearly sticks to her guns, the fact that subjects like Lan Caihe and contemporary Japanese figures are being depicted shows that her Chonin patrons had begun to ask that their commissions reflect their worldy lifestyles and tastes, rather than simply having Kannon strung up in the Tokonoma.

Go-Toba In Kunai-kyō (c1660) Kiyohara Yukinobu

The Classically Inspired or Manji Beauty

Therefore in context, we see that whilst Yukinobu herself does not set out to depict Bijin, she becomes a precursor to Bijinga. In her acceptance of wealthy Chonin commissions, we can draw a link between the high art world and the lower classes, who in a bid to social climb and have their patronage reflect their newfound wealth, have begun to create their own early relatable or desired figure art. Yukinobu enables this by bringing credibility to this venture in lending her name to the creation of pieces with these figures following traditional values found prior in the Kano school. Yukinobu, skilled in the depiction of Yamato-E and various formats of screens, fan painting and scrolls, depicts women as relatable figures, figures who eventually under the male gaze of Ukiyo-e, begin to form early depictions of traditionally acceptable, yet contemporary Beauties, effectively shifting beauty standards through respectability politics, and sumptous designs for women clientele.[10]

Bibliography.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Caihe

[2] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2019-08-05/Would-magpies-help-reunite-China-s-mythological-lovers--IUw0yXfUL6/index.html

[3] https://asianbotanical.ku.edu/plum-0

[4] https://propertyinsight.com.my/why-does-vmgzcs/sparrow-symbolism-japan-24ab02

[5] https://www.christies.com/features/5-Victorian-beauties-and-what-they-tell-us-about-the-time-in-which-they-were-painted-6799-1.aspx

[6] https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/shisetsu/kyoto.html#:~:text=The%20city%20of%20Kyoto%20was,moved%20to%20Tokyo%20in%201869.

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyohara_Yukinobu

[9] https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%85%E5%8E%9F%E9%9B%AA%E4%BF%A1

[10] https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyohara_Yukinobu

Bijin Series Timeline 

8th century

- Introduction of Chinese Tang Dynasty clothing (710)

- Sumizuri-e (710)

- Classical Chinese Art ; Zhou Fang (active 766-805) ; Qiyun Bijin

15th century 

- Fuzokuga Painting schools; Kano (1450-1868) and Tosa (1330-1690)

16 century 

- Nanbanjin Art (1550-1630)

- Byobu Screens (1580-1670)

 - End of Sengoku Jidai brings Stabilisation policy (1590-1615)  

17th century  

- Early Kabuki Culture (1603-1673) ; Yakusha-e or Actor Prints

- Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) 

- Regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685)  

Iwasa Matabei (active 1617-1650) ; Yamato-e Bijin  

- Sankin-Kotai (1635-1642) creates mass Urbanisation  

- Popular culture and print media production moves from Kyoto to Edo (1635-1650); Kiyohara Yukinobu (1650-1682) ; Manji Classical Beauty

- Shikomi-e (1650-1670) and Kakemono-e which promote Androgynous Beauties; Iwasa Katsushige (active 1650-1673) [Coming Soon] 

- Mass Urbanisation instigates the rise of Chonin Cottage Industry Printing (from 1660) ; rise of the Kabunakama Guilds and decline of the Samurai

- Kanazoshi Books (1660-1700); Koshokubon Genre (1659?-1661)

- Shunga (1660-1722); Abuna-e

Kanbun Master/School (active during 1661-1673) ; Maiko Bijin 

- Hinagata Bon (1666 - 1850)

Yoshida Hanbei (active 1664-1689) ; Toned-Down Bijin

- Asobi/Suijin Dress Manuals (1660-1700)

- Ukiyo-e Art (1670-1900)

Hishikawa Moronobu (active 1672-1694) ; Wakashu Bijin

- The transit point from Kosode to modern Kimono (1680); Furisode, Wider Obi 

- The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700) ; Yuezen Hiinakata

Sugimura Jihei (active 1681-1703) ; Technicolour Bijin 

Miyazaki Yuzen (active 1688-1736) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonobu (active 1698 - 1729) [Coming Soon]

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網目 | Amime | Net Mesh | Patterns #8

 The Amime pattern is a repeating series of ovals, whose tailends resemble brackets stuck together to make a pattern like fancy chicken wire. Some resemble more of a wavy line. The pattern therefore is said to resemble mesh which finds its origins in fishing and hunting nets and recommended to be worn in summer.[1] The pattern is said to take its name from the space between the lines of fishing netting.[2] This ties in with the phrase 'Ichimou Daijin' meaning to always have a large catch, or to be victorious in your fishing pursuits.[4]

Japanese Glass Fishing Float in Net (2007, CC3.0) Jon Zander

Historically Amime can be found in the Edo period, combined with fish motifs by Heimin/Shomin.  This idea comes from the popular Edo retelling of how the Boddhisattva Kannon made the area today, Asakusa into a bountiful fishing settlement. On 18 March 628, the fishermen brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Takenari had a statue of Kannon get stuck in their fishing net. The statue repeatedly got stuck in their net, and was eventually given over to Buddhists, which is now where Sensoji Temple stands. It was was said the area flourished and by the 9th century, was a highly prosperous fishing and pilgrimage site. By the Edo period with the new Tokugawa shogunate move to the Eastern capital of Edo, the legend took on new significance and became more popular, becoming affiliated with the Amime pattern and worn as a popular Yukata pattern.[3][4] Common motifs worn in the 18th and 19th centuries included fish, Ebi ( 海老 | Shrimp), Tako ( 蛸 | Octopus) to contrast the back and foreground.[5] It was used by samurai as it was thought to allow the wearer a guaranteed victory or catch.[1] Certainly by the Taisho era, Amime continues with Tobiuo ( 飛魚 | flying fish) motifs as popular fashion that I can recall seeing around online. 

Patterns #9 will be on Higaki.

Bibliography

[1] https://int.kateigaho.com/articles/tradition/patterns-13/

[2] https://www.vamakitchens.net/products/amime

[3] https://uk.hotels.com/go/japan/senso-ji-temple

[4] https://www.kimono-gara.com/season/natsu/amine/

[5] https://www.kimono-kyoto.jp/mt/archives/2008/02/post_119.html

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着物とラファエロ前派の画家たち | Kimono and the Pre-Raphaelite Painters | 1864 - 1877 | Essay #7

This essay will cover the aspects of Kimono in the Portraiture of the Pre-Raphaelites. The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of British artists and writers active during the late Victorian period. Unlike the Royal Academy artists, this circle of painters operated outside of the established comfortable boundaries of the expected white, cisgender middle class audience of the Victorian age. The movement is notable for its inclusion and encouragement of women, and in portraying and engaging non-conventional beauty and beauties as figures from the Classical World alongside Religious, Mythological and Folklore Heroines into Victorian 'Femme Fatales'.[8]

Morgan Le Fay (1864) Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys

The woman portrayed in our first image is the mythological heroine Morgan le Fay by Frederick Sandys (1829-1904). Sandys as an artist often produced beautiful images of voluptuous women whose hair was often in freefall, here painting his mistress Keomi Gray (1849–1914) as the magickian of Arthurian legend. It is most likely that Sandys acquired his Kimono through either an import merchant shop in London, or from a bulk warehouse such as Farmer & Rogers’ Great Shawl & Cloak Emporium's Eastern Goods Warehouse.

Sandys uses the Kimono here as an aesthetical tool. The dramatic colours fit into the bold colour schemes which were characteristic of the Brotherhood. The Kimono itself is clearly a Furisode, perhaps for a young woman of wealthier status going by the red inside of the sleeves. Whilst unknown if Sandys was aware of this, Green in Japan was recognised as being associated with nature, vitality and immortality.[3][4]  Green was also a favourite of the Victorians as associated with the natural or nonindustrial world, and the occult, specifically the fae.[5] Red for the Victorians would signify (military) power, boldness and ardour.[6]

Whilst it is unknown how much Sandys collected or and understood of Japanese aesthetics, he was a clear early adopter of the aesthetical importance of Kimono in placing it at the center of the composition. The placement with other objects of Middle and Far Eastern and Celtic origin  also may offer further clues as to the mindset of how Sandys used the Kimono as a signifier of the junction of wisdom and power, and in this depiction as a enchantress, using the green which was associated with the occult at the time to denote this. It is most likely Sandys therefore used it to denote the atmosphere of the otherworld of the green man and employed the silks lustre to enhance this effect.[5]

Young woman applying Makeup | The Pearl (1876) Frederick Sandys

(c.1795) Kitagawa Utamaro |                                                 

Sandys was certainly aware of used Japanese motifs in many of his works, using Mon, Uchiwa fans, gold Byobu and references to Ukiyo-e seemingly as in his 1876 Pearl painting. As you can see,the mirror motif, falling robe and upswept hair reveal the curving nape, a proponent of Japanese admiration and attraction in the female beauty standard. Whilst as mixed with the Hellenestic ideal by Sandys, Sandys particularly used the curved or revealed nape motif in his portraits and drawings and obviously came into contact with enough Japanese objects to merit his understanding of the Bijin in the age of the Japan Cult (see the Glossary).

The Beloved (1865) Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Those depicted in this painting were from 12:00 Clockwise the models Alexa Wilding (1847-1884), Fanny Eaton (1835-1924), Keomi Gray, Gabriel (model dates unknown) and Ellen Smith (active 1863-1869) and Marie Ford (dates unkown). Interestingly the young child figure Gabriel is meant to act as a stand in for Rossetti to the viewer, who both attend to the central bridal figure.[1]

The Kimono presented here is most likely the same as that used in Frederick Sandys Morgan le Fay (1864), although Rosetti was known to have a rivalry with Whistler in the collection of Japanese art objects which Rosetti first began collecting from the famous French importer Madame Louise Mélina Desoye (1836-1909). Rosetti frequented these establishments as he was a collector of beautiful objects of global origins, with his inspiration in composition being drawn from the classical world of Renaissance Italy and the Greek Hellenistic standard.

Kimono is used here arguably in juxtaposition with other elements of the Beauty of Venus trope, which Rosetti used to reference the beauty ideal in Titians Venus with Mirrors (1555).[1] The Venus trope is a particularly frequent one used by Rosetti, here denoting the wife of King Solomon de-robing for her husband in lavish dress. Venus at the center, is surrounded by mirrors or here reflecting beauties, which either signify in Titians work her vanity, or under the original Greek understanding of Venus as a/the great standard of beauty, signifying the beauty of those surrounding Venus as well, imparting the notion of beauty in the objects and clothes they wear, ie Kimono, therefore.[2] 

Kimono here is used not as an allegorical device to my knowledge, but in appreciation of its dyed colour and ability to drape, as Rosetti frequently used bright colours in his paintings and a common gripe among the Pre-Raphaelites was the ability to find decent cloth which would hang as they desired with the ability catch light correctly and as needed for producing such lavish, decorative and bold paintings as the Beloved. The Kimono itself here is bundled up at the sleeves and clearly displays a pattern along the sleeve of Plum and Bamboo, and may perhaps be worn back to front.

The inclusion of Kimono tells us that was in the early acceptance of Kimono as beautiful objects in British painting. Kimono clearly held a place among the Pre-Raphaelites as art objects, if not for their usefulness in their ability to provide useful fabric qualities but also for their decorative patterning to be included rather than painted out.

Girls Portrait (1868) George Price Boyce

The sitter for this portrait is Anonymous as very little information is held surrounding this portrait, but ould easily be one of the many muses of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927), Fanny Cornforth (1835-1909), Jane Morris (1839-1914), Georgiana Burne-Jones (1840-1920), Effie Gray (1828-1897), Maria Zambaco (1843-1914), Aglaia Coronio/Ionides (1834-1906) Elizabeth Burden (1841-c1902) or Annie Miller (1835–1925).

It is most likely that Boyce had access to Kimono through either their own collecting of objects or from an artist friend who collected Kimono, perhaps someone such as Rosetti. However given that the Pre-Raphaelites had painted Kimono, it is also plausible this could have been Boyce's own Kimono, which Boyce would have come into contact with through most likely similar means to Rosetti, or through other proto-Department or Emporium stores which by 1867 were known to stock them in limited quantities as items for decorating the home.

By this time as Kimono had become more available, and were highly sought after items amongst artists for their ability to drape, which allowed the painter more room for playing with light and depth in their work. Boyce may have particularly taken to this Kimono as it depicted rural lifestyles, as seen in the blue section of fencing motif and presumably larger structure in the blue fold on the neck. Boyce as a painter was a frequent landscape painter using soft tones and spots of colour, so this particular pattern which distributes ornamental Ji-Monnyou using florals and scenes of Japanese farm life would be right up his alley. The Blue, White and Red may also be reminiscent of the Blue and White porcelain Rosetti famously collected, or perhaps specifically within the English context the collection of Kakiemon Porcelain colour pallettes as well. 

Amber (1876) | The End of the Story (1877) Albert Moore

Now whilst this is a bit presumptuous of me because Arabesque patterns were no doubt also used in Albert Moore use of Turkish and Persian patterning, I do believe his use of this fabric is indicative of popular Kimono patterns available in the West at the time. Only a hunch, however Moore was more than familiar with Japanese Ukiyo-e and design theory having being introduced to it in the late 1850s if I recall correctly. However, the pattern layout is reminiscent enough of trailing vines and wisteria, small florals and possible matsu motifs that is plausible this could be Japanese fabric.

In conclusion therefore we see that by 1865, Kimono as art objects had developed a highly sought after reputation among artists for their beauty and decorative qualities. By 1867, Kimono had clearly become established as an item used in the Pre-Raphaelites repertoire of costumes and props to embody on their own resplendent decorative beauty  within the feminine mystic and lover archetype. By the 1870's, the wider influence of the Japan Cult had come to pass which is reflected in the wider and more subtle use of Japan as influencing composition, aesthetics and for the Pre-Raphaelites, inspiration surrounding the female form and beauty. Kimono formed an early visual engagement with British artists between Japanese and Western sensibilities, during what Ono; byway of Lacambre; terms the Discovery stage of British Japonisme for each the 1860s, and Adoption by the 1870s in Pre-Raphaelites Art.[7]

Bibliography

[1] http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/s182.raw.html

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_with_a_Mirror

[3] https://kokoro-jp.com/culture/298/

[4] https://www.color-meanings.com/color-meanings-japan/

[5] https://madeleineemeraldthiele.wordpress.com/2016/06/04/huxtable-on-her-false-crafts-morgan-le-fay-and-the-wild-women-of-sandys/

[6] https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/the-red-craze/

[7] Japonsime in Britian: Whistler, Menpes, Henry, Hornel and nineteenth century Japan, Ayako Ono, 2003, p.18, RoutledgeCurzon

[8] https://www.artandobject.com/articles/women-pre-raphaelite-art

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阿波 しじら織 | Awa Shijira-ori | Crinkled Cotton Weave | Fabrics #7

Awa Shijira-Ori is a woven fabric which resembles a crinkly cotton finish. This uneven finish is known as Shibo ( Down-up | 凹凸 ). Shijira is originally made in Tokushima, and is usually worn as a summer textile for workwear or as yukata, being able to combat the humid Japanese summers easily as it is commonly woven using cotton threads with an open weave in indigo dyes.[1][3]

Shijira weave is made by sorting, measuring and scouring your yarns. The yarns are then dyed and rinsed as the colour dictates, measured and dried. These yarns are twisted into threads, as tight uneven weft threads and immersing the yarn underwater in a vat. These are removed being left out to air-dry with 'gloiopeltis glue' added which stops the threads from 'fluffing'. The warp threads are re-submerged in hot water, (75 degrees) to remove the glue and the process repeated and are at times dyed in another colour simultaneously.  The two warp and weft threads are combined into the loom and woven together, the warp threads being more shrunken due to their greater exposure and treatment, creating the 'crepe' or crinkle finish in their bid for freedom from the tighter weft threads. The fabric is measured and resized with the rolling the cloth into a Tan ( 反 | Kimono fabric roll ) fabric bolt of around 1100cm length, 40cm wide. This creates a varied pattern of alternating bumpy threads and one separately dyed warp threads as the threads shrink and dry, creating a vivid Shijira weave stripe pattern with its definitive Shibo quality.[1][3][4]

Tokushima Prefecture (2007, Public Domain) Bobo12345

During the Edo period, the lord of Awa decreed that Heimin (commoners | 平民) were not to wear silk, part of the Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) and regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685) in the wider Edo culture and tightening of the textile trades.[2] Instead therefore, the Heimin created and found new beauty in textiles such as Shijira weave or Tatae-Ori as it is known in Tokushima, which was worn by farmers, becuase of its light and durable nature and fun patterns. During the Meiji period, the technique was recovered in Awa's Atake village by Kaifu Hana c.1860-1869, when a striped Kimono had been left out in the rain, and dried in the sun. Hana noted that sections of the cloth had shrunk, producing the Shibo effect.[5] Inspired, she recreated the effect after much trial and error by reweaving warp threads in a cotton weave, creating the desired puckering or Shibo.[1] By the of the 1890s, production of the cloth totalled 2 million bolts a year, today only in its thousands by a handful of family owned businesses.[3] By the 1910s, the  traditional association with indigo dying was superseded by brighter chemical dyes, but was revived after 1945 and designated in 1978 under Awashouai-Shijirao as a traditional craft.[5] The textile is now protected and still made locally in Tokushima Prefecture in industrial quantity.

Next Fabric post will be on Chirimen.

Bibliography

[1] http://www.jtco.or.jp/en/japanese-crafts/?act=detail&id=252&p=36&c=33

[2] See the Bijin Series Timeline and Bijin post #3

[3] https://theardentthread.com/2010/02/03/awa-shijira-ori/

[4] https://voyapon.com/kimono-japanese-traditional-clothing/

[5] Swatch Favourite Fabric No 41 Awa Shijira-ori, Sarah Jane Downing, March 2018, Issue 81, p.98, Selvedge Magazine, London | https://issuu.com/selvedgemagazine/docs/81_japan_blue

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仲朗 | Zhou Fang | 730 - 800 | Bijin #7

Zhou was a Tang era Chinese painter who inspired Iwasa Matabei's classically inspired drawings which became the basis for Ukiyo-e in the second half of the 17th century. Zhou painted for the Imperial Chinese Tang court Emperor Dezong between 779-800, but his own background came from being a painter in a noble family during Tang China, specialising in pictures of beautiful court women. He himself was inspired by Gu Kaizhi (344–406) and Zhang Xuan (713–755) and lived in Chang'an, modern Xi'an city working during a time which saw a change in beauty standards for Chinese women and idealised imagery of beauty. He is best known for his Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers and Court Lady With Servants.[12]

Court Ladies adorning their Hair with Flowers (c799) Zhou Fang

Chinese historical figure depiction in the time of Kaizhi was rather two dimensional until the end of the Six Dynasty era (220–589) and began forming new ideals as power shifted from the Northern-South Kingdoms with the sixteen kingdoms (304 to 439) and the Sui Dynasty onto to Tang China by 618AD. During the end of the Six Dynasty period, Chinese art began to become more ethereal, light and evocative of the three rather than two dimensional. Acceptable figures to portray as beautiful, were the immortal nymphs of Chinese legends, over this period (300-550AD) the clothes of these figures began to become more fitted and showed off the wearers body.[4] Women of the era were seen through a form of the patriarchal lense in a Confucian prism however, and whilst admired, their agency was subjective at best in this worldview.[8] Fortunately though, they were often admired, for their wit, charms and beauty in the love poetry of women in love written in the 6th century which became the basis for the newly emerging Beautiful Woman genre as it became known by art historians later on. Common motifs of this poetry often was the pining beauty, 'plainly elegant' plum tree (on account of its blossoms), bamboo for fragility, peonies, hand fans, incense smoke and lotus roots symbolising conjugal love, spring with willow trees, autumn with mirrors, and the ephemeral nature of cosmetic beauty which accompanied these texts, such as Du Fu's (712–770) 'Ballad of the Beauty'.[7] Other imperial beauties of the period included the plump beauty Yang Yuhuan or Guifei ( 楊玉環 | 719-756), who is considered one of the 4 great beauties of Classical China.[10] 

Yang Guifei (c.907) Liao Tomb Wall Painting on Pao Mountain

In an amend to the historical record may I lead you to the fact that women also figured prominently in Chinese myth such as the mother goddess Nuwa and Leizu, the creator deity of the mulberry tree and sericulture.[9] Others include the contemporary Empress Regent Wu Zetian. Fu Du, for example, exemplifies the beauty who wears her 'gauze robes', comparing them to the 'spring' of their youth.

Third month, third day, in the air a breath of newness: by Chang'an riverbanks the beautiful ladies crowd, rich in charms, regal in bearing, well-bred, demure, with clear sleek complexions, bone and flesh well-matched, in figured gauze robes that shine in the late spring, worked with golden peacocks, silver unicorns. - Fu Du the Uninventive [11] 

Wu Zetian (c.1700) British Library

It is said in the Tang period, it was established that both the pictorial, and mirth or ability to depict and capture personality was just as important as each other. In the tale of the General Guo Ziyi (697-781) and his daughter Ms Zhao, when asked which of 2 Tang era painters who depicted her husband the best, Zhou was chosen for his ability to depict Zhao's husband in his characters entirety.[1] The period Zhou  produced his images saw a shift towards the rigidity of the Chinese bureaucratic system, which saw the rise of innuendo and the cult of the character which peeked from under the bureaucratic curtain of modesty now and then, with a beauty in barely there silk sleeves, yet otherwise modestly dressed.[7] It was this ability to depict a 2D image, and allow its audience to empathise with it as a 3D entity in Classical Chinese art which Iwasa Matabei clearly admired in the work of Zhou Fang and was carried over into his style. 

This quality of art, was known as 'Qiyun' ( Spirit resonance | 气韵 ) and was the first of the 6 classical principles of Chinese Art.[2] Another proponent of the Chinese Zhou Beauty, is their full figure, and lavish dress which often incorporated fake flowers, birds and metal in their elaborate hairstyles and accessories, such as the floating sashes of immortals.[4] From my own research, I know that in Japan at least, Chinese chignon Tang hairstyles and dress styles were in vogue at many different periods, but had arisen once more during Matabei's era. This plump or Rubenesque silhouette, was popular during the end of the period Zhou and his contemporaries painted in.[3] Indeed it is rare to find depictions of male figures from this date in Zhou's work.[4] 

Lady with Servants (c.799) Zhou Fang

Other elements which were considered in the depiction of beauty, was the appropriate placement of figure object and depth within the space, which often also relate to a specific contextual setting or theme in a play, poem or story.[2][4][7] This was both due to the confines of the available technology at the time, and to complement the appropriate way to read and appreciate the connotations and connoisseurship of these paintings of worldly and divine beauties, who were often plumply seated in groups of 3 in handscrolls or on standing screens.[5] These depictions found in Japanese art such as Ma, or the compositionally pleasing absence of a filled space are still a mainstay of Japanese and Chinese art and aesthetics. It is said these were imported, specifically in the instance of Zhou throughout the routes of Korean traders into Japan.[6] As Classical China, particularly Tang, was considered the height of civilisation for that time in Japanese society, the modes of Tang were greatly emulated.

Qiyun Bijin

It is from this context that we see how the mind, style and elements of Iwasa Matabei came to form early Ukiyo-e. It is often thought therefore that as the court painter of the height of Tang Dynasty China, the Bijin figure of Tang China, also influential in the fashions of Japanese aesthetic and fashion, held great sway due to Zhou's artistic ventures into the perfection of that Qiyun quality. It will have been this element to embody a flat into full and rotund beautiful figure which will have drawn the eye of many, including Iwasa Matabei, which influenced many Asian ideals of Beauty in Women, given the reach and scope of Zhou's position in East Asian art, akin to that of Eadfrith (active 698-721) of Lindisfarne's carpet pages in contemporary Northumbria, albeit more in a depiction of the divine than worldly beauty, through the use of compositional space and decoration to display their influential styles of powerful beauty to the average viewer of their works, which in those days may have held more of a literal spiritual connection than in later centuries. Zhou's work therefore as depicting the more plump and fetching idealised Tang Qiyun Beauty gave the impetus for Matabei to merge 'classical' figures of Beauty together with religious proprietal imagery to create the basework for his own Qiyun Bijin as the Yamato Bijin, which fed into the Genre known today as Ukiyo-e, or rather the longer tradition of depicting Beauties in Eastern Asian art aesthetics.

Bibliography

[1] A New Life for Literati Painting in the Early Twentieth Century: Eastern Art and Modernity, a Transcultural Narrative?, Aida-Yuen Wong, 2000, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 297-326, Artibus Asiae Publishers 

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_principles_of_Chinese_painting

[3] Huizong's New Clothes, L.C.W. Blanchard, 2009, Vol. 36, p.113, Ars Orientalis

[4] Tao Yuanming's Sashes: Or, the Gendering of Immortality, S. E. Nelson, 1999, Vol. 29, p.15, Ars Orientalis

[5] Review for 'Examination and Identification of the Forging of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting' in Xu Bangda Review, by T. Lawton, 1987, Vol. 17, p.186, Ars Orientalis

[6] Elegant or Common? Chen Hongshou's Birthday Presentation Pictures and His Professional Status, Anne Burkus-Chasson, June 1994, Vol. 76, No. 2, p.280, The Art Bulletin 

[7] Chinese Palace-Style Poetry and the Depiction of a Palace Beauty, Ellen Johnston Laing, June 1990, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp.284-290, The Art Bulletin

[8] https://www.schwarzmanscholars.org/events-and-news/confucianism-feminism-conflict-new-understanding-necessary/

[9] For more and to amend this notion, see Chinese Myths, Anne Birrell, 2000, pp.46-50, British Musuem Press, Chapter Gender in Myth

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guifei

[11] http://www.textetc.com/workshop/wt-du-fu-2.html

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Fang_(Tang_dynasty)

Bijin Series Timeline 

8th century

- Introduction of Chinese Tang Dynasty clothing (710)

- Sumizuri-e (710)

- Classical Chinese Art ; Zhou Fang (active 766-805) ; Qiyun Bijin

15th century 

- Fuzokuga Painting schools; Kano (1450-1868) and Tosa (1330-1690)

16 century 

- Nanbanjin Art (1550-1630)

- Byobu Screens (1580-1670)

 - End of Sengoku Jidai brings Stabilisation policy (1590-1615)  

17th century  

- Early Kabuki Culture (1603-1673) ; Yakusha-e or Actor Prints

- Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) 

- Regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685)  

Iwasa Matabei (active 1617-1650) ; Yamato-e Bijin  

- Sankin-Kotai (1635-1642) creates mass Urbanisation  

- Shikomi-e (1650-1670) and Kakemono-e which promote Androgynous Beauties; Iwasa Katsushige (active 1650-1673) [Coming Soon] 

- Mass Urbanisation instigates the rise of Chonin Cottage Industry Printing (from 1660) ; rise of the Kabunakama Guilds and decline of the Samurai

- Kanazoshi Books (1660-1700); Koshokubon Genre (1659?-1661)

- Shunga (1660-1722); Abuna-e

Kanbun Master/School (active during 1661-1673) ; Maiko Bijin 

- Hinagata Bon (1666 - 1850)

Yoshida Hanbei (active 1664-1689) ; Toned-Down Bijin

- Asobi/Suijin Dress Manuals (1660-1700)

- Ukiyo-e Art (1670-1900)

Hishikawa Moronobu (active 1672-1694) ; Wakashu Bijin

- The transit point from Kosode to modern Kimono (1680); Furisode, Wider Obi 

- The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700) ; Yuezen Hiinakata

Sugimura Jihei (active 1681-1703) ; Technicolour Bijin 

Miyazaki Yuzen (active 1688-1736) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonobu (active 1698 - 1729) [Coming Soon]

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