Helen Minnich - Japanese Costume & Makers: And the Makers of Its Elegant Tradition

APPENDIX ONE

COMPARATIVE CHRONOLOGY

APPENDIX TWO
"BROCADE" EXPLAINED

The following definition is quoted from Nancy Reath and Eleanor Sachs, Persian Textiles, New Haven, 1937.

[BROCADED:] "a design produced by the introduction of one or more additional weft threadsnever warp threadsduring the weaving of the fabric; these threads are only used where they are needed for the pattern; and differ from ordinary wefts in that they do not run all the way from selvage to selvage. In most of the examples the threads are not a necessary part of the structure of the fabric, but bear the same relation to it as does embroidery to the material that is embroidered. In some pieces, however, the brocading threads are tightly interwoven with the foundation weaves, and they then do form a necessary part of the fabric. Brocading may occur in a textile of any weave, and the threads may float free on either the face or the back of the fabric. Sometimes they are interlocked; i.e., looped through each other at the point where different colors meet, as are the threads of certain tapestries with interlocked wefts."

NOTE : In most Japanese patterned silks all the threads of varying colors are tightly interwoven all the way across the fabric. Exceptions are kara-ori, in which the threads float free on the face, and Ezo nishiki, in which the threads float free on the back of the fabric. Perhaps it is more technically correct to call all of these compound weaves. According to the above definition, it is quite incorrect to call them brocades, but for convenience and a more ready popular understanding, the word brocade is improperly used in this book. It is a verb, not a noun.

APPENDIX THREE
COLOR AND DESIGN IN THE EDO PBRIOD

FASHIONABLE COLORS: From the beginning of the Edo period, many new colors and dyeing processes were being introduced. The use of plain colors was governed not only by aesthetic considerations but also by ritual, even to some extent by protocol, as from ancient times when colors were officially prescribed as an index of rank. Predominant colors were brilliant red, purple, and blue. Orange, yellow, and green played minor roles and continue to do so today.

White as a ceremonial color was very popular in the masculine fashion world, especially after about 1650. The special badge of the Tokugawa hatamoto (bannermen) was the use of braided white cords on their sword hilts. They also wore white haori (topcoats) and hakama (wide trousers), and this style was imitated by all who admired their courage and bravado.