Screen
ca. 1938 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This six-panel screen by Serizawa Keisuke (1895- 1984) depicts stages in the manufacture of traditional Japanese paper at the village of Ogawa in Saitama Prefecture, where the artist taught in the mid-1930s. The six stages shown are: boiling the branches of the paper mulberry tree; washing the boiled mulberry fibres in running water; softening the fibres by beating them with mallets; moulding the paper in a frame; removing excess water in a press; and drying the sheets of paper on boards in the sun. Handmade paper created in this way is used to back the screen.
Serizawa was one of Japan’s foremost textile artists. He became an active member of the Japanese Folk Craft (Mingei) Movement after meeting its founder, Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), in 1927. He decided to become a textile artist after seeing a group of wrapping cloths from Okinawa at an exhibition in Tokyo the following year. These cloths had been dyed by the bingata method, historically practised in Okinawa using stencil resist and bright mineral pigments. Although Serizawa did not travel to Okinawa until 1939, the vibrant colours and bold designs of bingata textiles inspired his work from the outset.
Serizawa was one of Japan’s foremost textile artists. He became an active member of the Japanese Folk Craft (Mingei) Movement after meeting its founder, Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), in 1927. He decided to become a textile artist after seeing a group of wrapping cloths from Okinawa at an exhibition in Tokyo the following year. These cloths had been dyed by the bingata method, historically practised in Okinawa using stencil resist and bright mineral pigments. Although Serizawa did not travel to Okinawa until 1939, the vibrant colours and bold designs of bingata textiles inspired his work from the outset.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Stencil-resist-dyeing on silk; brown silk ground; wooden frame with metal corner reinforcements; backed with hand-made paper |
| Brief description | Six-fold screen, cream silk on a wooden frame stencilled with the stages of paper-making, six-panel, Serizawa Keisuke, Tokyo, Kamata-cho, Japan, ca. 1938 |
| Physical description | This six panel screen depicts the stages in the traditional manufacture of paper (read from right to left) at the village of Ogawa in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Handcrafted Japanese paper made by the same process and striped horizontally with black and red wavy lines, is used to back the screen. The design, against a cream silk ground, is executed in the complex stencil resist process known as bingata, a process unique to Okinawa where Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984) learnt the technique in the late 1920s. The stencilled pictures are positioned towards the top of each panel and are surrounded by rich light brown silk. The panels are edged with a binding of dark blue fabric. There are metal corner reinforcements on the first and last panels. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label | Six-Fold Screen
The process of paper-making
Okinawan bingata type kataezome (stencil-picture resist-dyed) patterning on silk.
Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984)
Late 1930s |
| Object history | Serizawa presented this screen to Sir John Pilcher (1912-1990) when Pilcher was serving as British Ambassador to Japan (1967-1972). The screen, and two other works given by Serizawa, were purchased from Pilcher by the V&A in 1985. |
| Historical context | See the 'Serizawa', catalogue to the exhibition at the Grand Palais, Paris, 1976-77, p.42 for a similar screen by Serizawa. |
| Production | Tokyo, Kamata-cho |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This six-panel screen by Serizawa Keisuke (1895- 1984) depicts stages in the manufacture of traditional Japanese paper at the village of Ogawa in Saitama Prefecture, where the artist taught in the mid-1930s. The six stages shown are: boiling the branches of the paper mulberry tree; washing the boiled mulberry fibres in running water; softening the fibres by beating them with mallets; moulding the paper in a frame; removing excess water in a press; and drying the sheets of paper on boards in the sun. Handmade paper created in this way is used to back the screen. Serizawa was one of Japan’s foremost textile artists. He became an active member of the Japanese Folk Craft (Mingei) Movement after meeting its founder, Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), in 1927. He decided to become a textile artist after seeing a group of wrapping cloths from Okinawa at an exhibition in Tokyo the following year. These cloths had been dyed by the bingata method, historically practised in Okinawa using stencil resist and bright mineral pigments. Although Serizawa did not travel to Okinawa until 1939, the vibrant colours and bold designs of bingata textiles inspired his work from the outset. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | FE.20-1985 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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