Textile Society of America

 

Date of this Version

2000

Document Type

Article

Citation

In Approaching Textiles, Varying Viewpoints: Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2000

Comments

Copyright © 2000 by the author(s).

Abstract

This paper discusses the development and technical transfer of what is perhaps the world's tiniest double ikat, Kasuri, developed in Japan after the Meiji restoration of 1868. Around the early 20th century, Japanese Kasuri was at the zenith of its quality, in creating geometric as well as pictorial designs using a very advanced form of color and weave effect. There were three reasons for this development during this period. The first reason was in the improvement of the "Orijime" technique which is a uniquely Japanese method in making kasuri threads using the loom. The second reason was the importation of knowledge from Lyon, France, on how to use graph paper which greatly contributed to making the designs of the finished textile products more sophisticated and pictorial. The third reason was social in that during this period, there was a rise in the demand for clothing in Japan as the country was becoming modernized. This demand fueled the designers and weavers with the energy to weave better and higher quality textiles in larger quantities.

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