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(★)(Translated by Monica Bethe)(The beauty of the world is often veiled, as if reluctant to reveal its secrets. So it is with the loveliest of Japanese textiles --that known as ´tsujigahana´. This superlative textile, fashioned between the fourteenth and early seventeenth centuries for clothing, banners, and other articles, is widely hailed as the ultimate in the textile arts of Japan. Its bold simplicity of design, imaginative subtlety, and delicately balanced technical virtuosity have held connoisseurs in thrall for centuries.／ But much like a comet that flashes across the skies, remaining in men´s minds for generations and yet little understood, ´tsujigahana´ has long been an intriguing mystery. Its origins, development, and demise were hazy, shrouded in the mists of history. But that day is now past. In this book, not only is the beauty of tsujigahana spectacularly reproduced for those making their first acquaintance with the subject, but a Japanese scholar at the leading edge of research casts a penetrating light on the background, technique, and chronology of the art.／ The text begins with the historical background that gave rise to tsujigahana. The period in which it flourished was one of alternating states of war and intermittent peace, when the country was being unified under new military rulers. It was an age of growing prosperity for the masses, and textile makers found themselves in increasing demand, both from the burgeoning commoner class and from the military aristocracy.／ In response, they produced and continued to refine upon tsujigahana, whose design reflected a strong sense of suggestive simplicity inherited from the rapidly closing medieval era as well as a growing taste for the decorative flamboyance that was to dominate in the ages to come. This commingling of aesthetic sensibilities produced a miracle of artistic excellence.／ Following this is a close look at the technical side of the art. Tsujigahana is based on tie dyeing, to which were added pictures and patterns brushed in with black ink. Neither of these techniques was new, but their skillful combination and progressive refinement gave birth to designs that revolutionized contemporary fashion. With the passage of time, thin leafs of gold and silver imprint were included in the scheme, followed by embroidery. The result was a bold yet exquisite elegance in which the various techniques coexisted in delicate balance.／ Tsujigahana went on to reach unparalleled heights in the sixteenth century, the era from which most extant examples have survived. From about 1615, however, this technical and aesthetic harmony was finally disrupted when traditional plain-weave silk was displaced by materials with textured ground. The tie dyeing used in tsujigahana, the painting, and the embroidery --all underwent irreversible changes after 200 years of development. Tsujigahana, as a living art, then ceased to exist.／ To succeeding generations, down to the modern day, the beauty of tsujigahana has been apparent from examples of the art that escaped destruction in the gristmill of time.／ Sometimes as fragments, often as garments of the military aristocracy passed down as heirlooms, tsujigahana has endured to delight the eye. But now, not only does the beauty of tsujigahana live on, as any reader of this book can see, but it is better understood than ever before.／ ▼CONTENTS／ ●1.The Genesis, Flowering, and Fading of Tsujigahana ●2.Tie Dyeing ●3.Tie Dyeing and Painting ●4.Tie Dyeing with Painting and Gold- or Silver-Leaf Imprint ●5.Tie Dyeing with Embroidery, Gold- or Silver-Leaf Imprint, and Painting ●6.Defining Tsujigahana) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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