Yūzen
Yūzen (友禅) is a Japanese resist dyeing technique where dyes are applied inside outlines of dyed or undyed rice-paste resist, which may be drawn freehand or stencilled; the paste keeps the dye areas separated. Originating in the 17th century, the technique became popular as both a way of subverting sumptuary laws on dress fabrics,[1] and also as a way to quickly produce kimono that appeared to be painted freehand with dyes. The technique was named after Miyazaki Yūzen (宮崎友禅), a 17th century fan painter who perfected the technique.[2] Miyazaki Yūzen's fan designs became so popular that a book called the yūzen-hiinagata was published in 1688, showing similar patterns applied to kosode (the predecessor of the kimono). A fashion for elaborate pictorial yūzen designs lasted until 1692.[3]
Technique
There are several subtypes of yūzen technique.
The first is itome-yūzen, sometimes also called hon-yūzen.
In the 1870s, the utsushi-yūzen technique was developed. It used synthetic
In 1881, improvements in the dye-paste and steaming techniques made it possible to dye the background using paste (shigoki), often using brighter colours than traditional techniques. Instead of scrolling the cloth past an artist who decorated part of it at a time, the whole length was spread on a board. All of the coloured pastes were applied through stencils with a spatula, and a different stencil was used for each colour
The
Though similar in appearance to tsutsugaki, yūzen differs in application, with tsutsugaki pieces generally using one application of rice paste before dyeing, typically in an indigo dyebath, resulting in a characteristic blue-and-white end result. In contrast, yūzen can feature a number of repeated applications of rice paste, with dye hand painted into certain areas before the resist is removed.
Present day
Yūzen continues to be a popular decoration technique for kimono and
In
Yūzen variations
Birodo yūzen, or yūzen birodo, is a yūzen technique where velvet is dyed and painted with the yūzen technique, after which the pile is cut away carefully in certain places, creating a painterly effect of light and shade.[5] The technique first appeared in the 19th century and was described in 1905 by Basil Hall Chamberlain.[6] Although technically a form of velvet painting, birodo yūzen works are not comparable to Western and Middle Eastern velvet paintings, which utilise velvet as a canvas.
See also
- Rōketsuzome, a traditional Japanese wax resist dye technique
- Katazome, a traditional stencil resist dye technique
- Tsutsugaki, a hand applied dye resist technique similar to yūzen
References
- ISBN 9780313336645.
- ISBN 4889960619.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Fukatsu-Fukuoka, Yuko (2004). "The Evolution of yūzen-dyeing Techniques and Designs after the Meiji Restoration". Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
- ^ a b c d e f Okamura, Mayumi (10 January 2014). "yūzen". project-japan.jp. Project Japan. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Takeuchi Seiho (after), Moon over Venice, a textile wall hanging". British Museum. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ISBN 9781848301818.
External links
- Media related to Yūzen at Wikimedia Commons
- Okamura, Mayumi (10 January 2014). "yūzen". project-japan.jp (in Japanese). Project Japan. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- Fukatsu-Fukuoka, Yuko (2004). "The Evolution of yūzen-dyeing Techniques and Designs after the Meiji Restoration". Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. University of Nebraska - Lincoln.