Studio: international art (51.1911)

Japanese Art and Artists oj To-day.—III. Textiles and Embroidery

CUT VELVET: “EVENING SCENE, KIYONIZU TEMPLE”

BY NISHIMURA SOBEI OF KIOTO

named above and the two other pieces shown
in our coloured illustrations.

Velvets in Japan are called “Birodo,” and of
recent years their manufacture has received great
stimulus from the demand of the European
markets for dyed and cut velvets. In this

instance the fine wire rods
on which the silk is woven
are removed without the
fabric being cut, except
where necessary to empha-
size the design, which is
painted on the fabric by a
brush dipped in the requi-
site dyes. The work in
this material, exhibited by
Messrs. Takashimaya and
Messrs. Tanaka, respectively,
shows what delightful results
can be obtained by this
method.

Perhaps the most fasci-
nating of Japanese textile
manufactures are those
which go by the name of
“ Yuzen,” so called from a
Buddhist priest of Kioto who invented the special
process of dyeing employed in producing them.
The term applies chiefly to the fabrics of silk
and crape, largely used in Japan for ladies’ dresses,
but it is also applied to muslin and velvet. In
silk and crape Yuzen the woof and weft consist of

CUT VELVET: “A MOONLIGHT SCENE

DESIGNED BY R. TANAKA, KIOTO

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