Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> Since I could find nothing written in English on the history of these designs I assumed that they were fairly modern graphics for the traditional arts turned out by talented studios which are abun- dant in Japan. Only when I began work ing on Designer’s Guide to Japanese Patterns did I realize that although many of the designs had been reinterpreted and transformed through the years most of the patterns had antecedents going back more than nine hundred years to the Heian period (794-1185). It is a popular belief that the Japanese are copiers not creators. This book is testimony that nothing could be further from the truth. In the nine hundred years between the middle of the Heian period and the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912) there was a continuous outpouring of original work in literature arts and crafts. The first cultural inspira- tions in Heian times did come from abroad-mainly from China and Korea in the T’ang dynasty (618-907)-but by the eleventh century the Japanese had absorbed the foreign influences and were displaying original expression in all their arts. (LL)