#aobanagami

[hannadeutscher]

Shimoi's Ukiyo-e Reproduction

Paints of UkiyoeーAobanagami②: about making method of aobanagami（one of the original blue pigments of ukiyoe of the edo era）. I this summer p

Aobana-gami technique

[ukiyoe-reproduction]

Introducing of Ukiyoe paint ,"Aobana-gami青花紙(Ai-gami藍紙)"

"This paint is made of a flower dye called Aobana.

It cannot be stored in the form of liquid or dried powder, so it is stored as soaked and dried in paper.

When using it as a paint, the dyeing liquid comes out once the paper is soaked in water.

Currently, there is only one producer remaining in Shiga prefecture in Japan.

One of the characteristics of this paint is that it easily fades.

The color can rarely be confirmed in the original prints of the Edo period.

Its color changes to colorless, gray or tan over time.

From the latter half of the 1810s, the frequency of use of indigo paint increased, but before that, this paint had been the main blue paint in ukiyoe prints."

Special Thanks: Kouji Sugahara and Yousuke Suemitsu

Note:

Commelina communis (dayflowers) has been used as a coloring material for a long time in Japan, and its use can be seen from the songs in "Manyoshu万葉集"(8C).

In modern times, "aobana" refers to "ohboushibana"(Commelina communis var.hortensis Makino), which is a cultivated variety of Commelina communis, but in ancient times it was used as a common name for Commelina communis.

It is unknown when aobana, which is a cultivated variety, was born, but in 平賀源内「物類品隲」（1763）, it is mentioned that the dayflowers in Shiga (Ohmi) are much larger than ordinary dayflowers.

Also, it is unknown when aobanagami, a form of "paper impregnated with dyeing liquid", was invented, but in 経尊「名語記」（1274）the word "Aobana" is written as the name of Japanese paper soaked with petal juice. And the first appearance of the name "Aobanagami" in literature materials is said to be 松江重頼「毛吹草」 (1645), and the book mentions Aobanagami as a specialty product of Ohmi .

There are some unknowns about the usage of "aobana" as a coloring material in history, but with the development of Yuzen dyeing from around the Genroku period (1688-1704), it can be seen from the literature that aobanagami was useful as a coloring material for sketches in dyeing and weaving such as Yuzen dyeing because of its nature of "flowing down into the water", and was actively produced.

In Ukiyo-e,as an early work, there is an example of its detection in Ishikawa Toyonobu "Shichifukujin Takarabune" published around 1760.

In Nishiki-e, which began with Suzuki Harunobu at the beginning of the Meiwa period (1764-72), when focusing on the transition of blue color, aobanagami has been used as the main blue paint until around middle of the Bunsei period (1818-29).And then, indigo (which had been used more frequently since the late 1810s little by little) becomes the main blue paint after that.（I will talk about prussian blue next time.）

However, this transition of blue paint is when focusing on the blue parts of works, and when focusing on the green parts, it seems that indigo is used more proactively than aobanagami from an early stage.（Indigo doesn't tend to fade, so we can judge its use.）I wonder why that.

Example of use (1) An example of fading of aobanagami. (From the original.) Resource: (Caution : "shunga site") https://shungagallery.com/hokusai-for-sale/

Example of use (2) The blue part is where aobanagami is used. (From my reproducing work.)

Aobanagami is rarely used alone after the middle of the Bunsei period, but it is used until the end of the Edo period as a paint to mix with red to produce purple.

（ In the Meiji era, "purple powder" and "scarlet+prussian blue" come to be used for purple. I am not familiar with purple powder and scarlet, so I will introduce them in the future if I have the opportunity.）

Demand for aobanagami in ukiyo-e ended in the Edo period, and in the field of dyeing and weaving such as Yuzen dyeing, which was probably the pillar of demand, demand came to decrease due to "kimono away" and the development of synthetic aobana dyeing.（It was also used as a food coloring according to the literature of the Meiji era.)

It is said that there were 350 farms of the paint in the first half of the Meiji era, and in 2020, there is only one farm in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture.The paint is in demand by some dyeing and weaving artists, and it meets my need to reproduce ukiyo-e.

(In recent years, the ingredients contained in aobana have attracted attention and the demand for health foods has increased, so while the production of the paint is in danger of survival, the cultivation of aobana as a plant is expanding.However, it is the stems and leaves that contain healthy ingredients, and the cutting work is done before the flowers bloom.）

In the existing way and aspect of ukiyo-e reproducing, I sometimes happen to see that it is said that the reproducing work , which has been printed in gray or yellow blown color that aobanagami has undergone aging, is a reproduction of the original first state of ukiyo-e that was printed up in the Edo period.

It sometimes makes me unfortunate that the knowledge and recognition of aobanagami is not recognized in the society of traditional woodblock printing.

Please refer to the article in the following link for info of the manufacturing method of aobanagami.

https://ukiyoereproduction.com/post/624867656174043136/%E3%83%BCabout-making-method-of-aobanagamione-of-the

Shimoi's Ukiyo-e Reproduction

ーAbout making method of aobanagami（one of the original blue pigments of ukiyoe of the edo era）, pt 1 ー I this summer participated in the exp

Reference:

竹内久兵衛「実業応用絵具染料考」（1887）

小泉栄次郎編「実用色素新説:一名・絵具染料案内」（1894）

石井研堂「錦絵の彫と摺」（1929）

松井英男・南由紀子編「浮世絵の名品に見る「青」の変遷」（2012）

目黒区美術館「色の博物誌」（2016）

東京文化財研究所「青花紙製作技術に関する共同調査報告書」（2018）

(Additional example of use of aobanagami , from the original pic. You can see the fading of the paint as its blue color is leaving on the right side a little. ) Resource: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56882?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=harunobu&offset=20&rpp=20&pos=40