Maggs Bros. Ltd.

A wonderful collection of three working albums of abundant designs for woven textiles. Dating from the early nineteenth century (Edo period), the albums show an enormous range of original designs, carefully gridded and hand-painted.

This is a collection of three separate but thematically related albums from a single owner, who we have not been able to identify. The earliest album in the collection contains some manuscript annotations which show that many of the designs were for auspicious dates (we find ko-getsu kichi-nichi written frequently). One note states 'Bunka 14' (1817), and the style of writing also indicates a nineteenth-century hand. While jacquard looms had existed by this point, they were only introduced to Japan in 1873. Before then, weavers had to be able to produce mathematically precise woven designs without any automation. After jacquard, the punchcard system of weaving became more widely used by Kyoto's weavers of luxurious Nishijin cloth.

Crucially, jacquard technology allowed for much more complex designs, which is visible in the other two albums. In the second album we see more intricate designs with a bit more of a Meiji feel. There is a playful design of koi carps swimming through nets and on another page we see a design using roman letters.

The final, and mostly likely latest, album is clearly linked to Umehara Chobei, a Kyoto-based kimono merchant/wholesaler. Each drawing is stamped and many pages contain the business' official stamp. On the cover there is a partially filled-out label which would indicated this one of several design reference books in the company. It is also printed 'Taisho' but a year and date has not been filled out – it is unclear whether the book was made in the Taisho period or earlier. However from the title, it is clear that the album references 'antique' designs rather than modern designs from the Taisho period, which are stylistically very distinctive. It should also be noted that Umehara Chobei was the family business in which the famous Western-style (yoga) painter Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) grew up.

All three albums unique.