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Shimacho Stripe Book
Shimacho 縞帖 literally translates to ‘stripe book’. These Japanese books are a great archive and resource of the fabric that was being woven and worn in the 19th Century, when most of these books were made.
The dark tones and subtle, small stripes, found throughout
most of these books is due to sumptuary laws made during the Edo period (1603 –
1867), when the government dictated what a person could wear, and also when
stripe patterns became increasingly popular as kimono patterns.
During this time, most common people had to dress in cotton
or bast fibre clothing with dark colours and small repeats. Bright colours and
expensive silks, and textiles that showed large repeats were worn by the upper
or ruling classes.
These books were created for numerous reasons – according to
some sources, some are sample and swatch books that were used for commercial
use by businesses, and some were created by weavers to keep a record; as a
scrapbook or a portfolio of sorts, of the different designs they’d created.
Some Shimacho were composed by families; by generations of weavers as a keepsake for their home and to inspire their work.
Legend has it that when a young girl left home upon
marriage she would take a shimacho to her fiancé’s family home, so they could recreate
or be inspired by her family’s woven cloth.
Although there is speculation that the albums don’t hold as
much sentimental value as some of the legends suggest.
“In a culture and time where weaving was done in
every home, my hunch is that there was a lot of swapping of fragments between
families and neighbors, as there must have been a lot of mutual admiration and
intrigue between household weavers, and these weavers wanted to compile as much
inspiration as possible.” ~ Sri Threads
Images and text below from Sri Threads
This shimacho is typical of most: slivers of cloth were pasted into an already-existing book, the leaves of which were filled as swatches were gathered.It measures 9″ x 6″ or 23 cm x 15.25 cm and contains 15 leaves–and many worm holes, a common feature of almost any shimacho.
This shimacho is typical of most: slivers of cloth were pasted into an already-existing book, the leaves of which were filled as swatches were gathered.It measures 9″ x 6″ or 23 cm x 15.25 cm and contains 15 leaves–and many worm holes, a common feature of almost any shimacho.
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| from Wafu Works Blogspot |
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| from Wafu Works Blogspot |
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| from Wafu Works Blogspot |
