[HAND PAINTED DESIGNS FOR KIMONO]. Masukagami ("The clear mirror")

Kyōto: Ikegami, 1899. Very good. Large 8vo (268 x 196 mm). [3, 31] double leaves. Four-hole bound volume (yotsumetoji), traditional East Asian binding style (fukurotoji), original wrappers bound in (worn, soiled, and lightly foxed). Ex-ownership inscriptions to lower wrapper, seal to lower pastedown. Some foxing and browning, overall very good. FASCINATING WORK OF MIXED MEDIA WHICH COMBINES DELICATE HAND-PAINTING AND PRINT IN THE SERVICE OF FASHION AND COMMERCE, BEING AN ALBUM OF 52 DESIGNS FOR KIMONO.

"In the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japan became active on the global stage, embracing new technologies, fashions, and design trends from the Western world. During this period, kimono design books were revived and evolved into print albums known as zuan-cho (literally 'design idea books'). These print albums circulated among artists, designers, kimono merchants, and wealthy patrons in Japan's major cities. Combining bold colors, geometric lines, and influences from Western styles such as Art Nouveau, they reflected Japanese visual traditions but also reimagined popular themes in the context of modern Japan. Created as style guides and design sources, these albums were also seen as independent works of art to be contemplated and admired." (See the 2024 "Zuan-cho: Kimono Design in Modern Japan 1868-1912" at the de Young Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco).

Our volume is decidedly of the Zuan-cho category, and was likely created by (or certainly for) Ikegami Yaemon, the owner of a store called Echizenya and one of the first investors in the Kyoto Textile Company. An inscription on the lower wrapper indicates that he was at least a former owner of the book, and his family name is also woodblock-printed on each leaf's outer column (hanshin). The album was ostensibly produced by Ikegami's firm to present "in house" designs to potential customers, as a kind of unique catalogue of the variety of kimono that could be specially made for them.

The preface of the volume, and the outlines of the kimono, are woodblock printed, while the actual designs are hand-painted. The number that accompanies each illustration seems to have been hand-printed with a stamp. Nine of the designs are double-page, free of the confines of the woodblock-printed outlines.

The style of our Zuan-cho, especially the paper type and woodblock-printed preface, is similar to those produced by the publisher Unsō dō, and it seems possible that Ikegami commissioned him to produce that particular section, to which were added the double-page designs.