A Dyer's Book of Stenciled Swatches: Blues and Browns

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
6 3/4"' x 9 1/2" x 3/4", 17 cm x 24 cm x 1.9 cm

This book contains 13 pages and about 100 swatches of cotton, each of which was stencil dyed or stencil resist dyed. Each swatch measures about 1 7/8" x 2 1/2" or 4.6 cm x 6.35 cm.

The book is an album of patterns that was kept either by a dyeworks or by a broker selling cloth directly to clients.

This beautiful album is a treasury of mainly middle-figure designs many of which are based in traditional patterns while others seem to reflect the influence of European design ideas. About half are based on blue color designs while many others are dyed in browns.

The book is bound between cardboard covers and it is not an exaggeration to say that this is a goldmine of design information for an artist, a designer or someone who is interested in studying Japanese applied arts.

In used condition.

Recommended.