Description

This is a work of kamon (family crest) art created using the technique of Shoryu Hatoba. While focusing on the circles and lines forming the kamon, it visualizes "a trail of circles and lines," hitherto never used to depict a kamon, to give three dimensionality to the Mamuki Game (Turtle Facing Front) kamon. The paper used in this work is echizen kizuki bousho (Japanese washi paper) made by the living national treasure, Ichibei Iwano. The paper is made using special dye printing to express the delicate lines. Skilfully combining 533 circles and one straight line, the work also expresses dynamic beauty. The turtle in the motif is a minogame, a turtle with green algae growing on its back. This symbolizes the beginning of something joyful and is regarded as an auspicious motif signifying longevity.

Size: frame H53 cm × W63 cm × D3.5 cm, outside box H63.5 cm × W77 cm × D13 cm
Weight: inner case 1.9 kg, outer case (wooden) 6.7 kg
Total weight: 8.6 kg
Kyogen

https://www.kyogen-kamon.com/
Kamon (family crests) have been passed down through the generations in Japan. Kyogen was founded at Kyobashi, Tokyo, in 1910 as a mon-nori-ya, a craftsperson's company that pastes the shape of a kamon onto a kimono. Later, Kyogen's second-generation owner became a monsho-uwaeshi, an artisan who draws delicate crests onto kimono using ink and brushes, and he passed down such techniques to future generations.

Kamon originated from the culture of the Japanese nobility. Later, when samurai became prominent, kamon became emblems on banners. After that, when times became peaceful, kamon started to be used for ceremonial purposes. Kamishimo costumes (ceremonial clothing worn by samurai) were born during the Muromachi period, and it was during this time that kamon were drawn directly onto costumes in ink. In the Edo period, commoners, who were not allowed to carry last names, cherished kamon as the sole way to identify themselves.

While preserving the traditional techniques of drawing kamon as monsho-uwaeshi, Shoryu Hatoba, the third-generation owner of Kyogen, fused the techniques of the Edo period that skilfully combines circles and lines with digital techniques to create a new kamon expression called "mon-mandala." Today, he is active in additional areas, ranging from commercial facility logos and fashion accessories, to the industry design sector including product packaging. Hatoba also produces works of art that overturn the conventional idea of art with his new talents in full bloom.

Hatoba says, "I want the tradition to be passed down in cool fashion." His free creativity and design captivates the hearts of people from Japan and abroad.


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02-06-112-0054 In Stock
Kyogen