Imperial Paper (2 results)

Pamphlet. Condition: Used - Very Good. No date, ca 1930? Folded sheet with 2 pages text, 20 wallpaper sample sheets. 11.5 x 9", color portfolio, woman sitting at dresser, interior, trademark. Onondaga Wall Paper & Paint, Syracuse dealer imprint. Short split along fold, few edge nicks, VG.

Single large sheet (ca. 834 x 567) within frame (ca. 924 x 651 mm) of suki-ire bijutsushi (artistic watermarked paper) on mitsumata paper, depicting a peacock and trees. Housed within a modern frame. The largest surviving watermark from the Imperial Paper Mill at Oji, produced before the Second World War. This is one of the few specimens of traditional suki-ire bijutsushi (artistic watermarked paper) commissioned by Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) to have survived the air raid fire of 13 April 1945. Their designs include flowers, birds, landscapes, human figures, portraits and many studies of Mount Fuji. These watermarks were intended as decorative elements for sliding doors. - Prior to Emperor Meiji's commission, watermarks were rather rare in Japan because they were mostly used for banknote production and had to undergo stringent security screenings. When an artisan wanted to create a new watermark, they had to notify the government and provide reasons for doing so. Shortly afterward, the hand-rubbing method known as "tesuri-kako-ho" was invented, allowing Japanese papermakers to produce light-and-shade watermarks far superior to any previously produced elsewhere. - Tesuri-kako-ho watermarks are made by first engraving a design into a plate. A wet sheet of paper is then laid on the plate. A wooden frame, with a dry cotton cloth stretched across it, is then placed on the wet sheet. Corrugated celluloid is used to rub the cloth. A finer piece of corrugated celluloid is used to rub the paper once the cloth is removed. An orchid leaf wrapped around a roll of dry cloth is used to perform the final rubbing. Once complete, the sheet is placed between two damp cloths, pressed, and placed on a wooden frame without the design touching the wood. A bamboo knife is used to remove the paper from the frame after drying. - A previous owner of this sheet, the well-known American papermaker, printer and publisher Henry Morris, corresponded with the Paper Museum in Japan about the watermark. Although the Head Curator, Naohiko Tsujimoto, replied that they had been looking for a sample of this size for their collection and, not having found one in Japan, were interested in obtaining this example, Morris decided not to part with it. - Perfectly preserved. - 1) Thomas Keith Tindale, historian of Japanese papermaking, and by descent to his son, Andrew Ramsey Tindale (1949-2009). - 2) Acquired in 2001 by Henry Morris (1925-2019), American papermaker, printer, publisher, and proprietor of The Bird & Bull Press. - 3) Sold to a French private collector in 2013. - T. K. & H. R. Tindale, The Handmade Papers of Japan (Rutland, VT and Tokyo: Tuttle, 1952).…