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Japanese design motifs : 4260 illustrations of heraldic crests

Title

Japanese design motifs : 4260 illustrations of heraldic crests / compiled by the Matsuya Piece-Goods Store ; translated, and with a new introduction, by Fumie Adachi.

Format

Book

Published

New York : Dover Publications, [1972] ©1972

Description

xiv, 216 pages : illustrations ; 21 x 29 cm

URL

<Publisher description> http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/dover032/72086225.html

Other contributors

Adachi, Fumie, translator. Matsuya Gofukuten.

Uniform series

Dover pictorial archive series.

Notes

Includes index. "Japanese Design Motifs: 4,260 Illustrations of Heraldic Crests contains all the illustrations from the Matsuya Piece-Goods Store compilation of traditional Japanese heraldic crests, originally published in Japan c. 1913"--Title page verso. Text in English translated from the Japanese.

Summary

Contains black-and-white illustrations of over four thousand design motifs characteristic of ancient Japanese family crests. "This collection presents more than 4,000 individual designs in the 900-year-old tradition of Japanese family crests. Through constant variation and invention over the centuries, this has become one of the richest graphic art traditions in the world. Most of these motifs are circular, and they can all be fitted into a square. Within those limitations is a seemingly endless range of designs, beginning with the dozens and dozens of root motifs -- rice plant, gingko, scallop, lightning, anchor, spool, raft, candle, scissors, fern, sake bottle, lotus blossom, mountain arrow, pine, wisteria, ship, rabbit, and scores of others. Practically every kind of plant, bird, animal, natural phenomenon, and manufactured object of Japanese culture was at one time or another included in a family crest. In addition, each of the root designs was treated to dozens of imaginative variations -- they were reproduced bilaterally, in triangles, diamonds, five- and six-pointed stars, in spirals, were built up in series, made to overlap, combined with each other, and so on. Some of these are classic and recognizable designs, like the yin-yang, linked rings, and treasure knot. Many of the others have rarely been seen in the West. Graphic artists, textile designers, pattern-makers, advertisers, and other commercial artists looking for an untapped source of novel, appealing designs will find a wealth of material here. Some of these motifs can be used to suggest an exotic flavor, and others are universal and can be used almost anywhere."--Publisher's description.

Subject headings

Devices (Heraldry)--Japan. Crests--Japan. Heraldry--Japan. Design--Japan.

Other subjects

Mon, to 1912 Illustrations

ISBN

0486228746 9780486228747