Edo komon
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This sample demonstrates a dyeing technique on silk which was very popular
during the 18th century for formal clothes such as kamishimo (wide
epaulettes and hakama worn by men), kimono and a kind of unlined jacket
(haori) known as hitoe-baori, The process of Ed**komon dyeing requires the
cutting of exquisitely intricate paper stencils using a series of tiny
punch-like knives. Several stencils are used and they must be placed upon
the fabric with the utmost precision so that no irregularities in the
pattern are created. Paste resist is applied through the stencil and the
fabric is then dyed. The word komon means "small pattern" and Edo komon
serves to distinguish this technique from a past-resist process called
yuzen-zome, originating in Kyoto, and from various other forms of komon
which developed later. In 1954, the process of making Edo komon was
designated an Important Cultural Property.
** The name of the city of Tokyo, prior to 1868.
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