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JAPANESE SAMPLE CATALOGUES

Silk, Gold and Luxury in the 1870s

By The IK Foundation

February 9^th, 2026

This visual story aims to highlight the meticulous attention to detail in two well-preserved sample catalogues, featuring all samples from these two Japanese sample books, along with comparable examples. Such traditional hand-woven silk qualities were suitable for both luxury clothing and interior textiles. Handloom weavers, skilled in these techniques, had learned from generation to generation, resulting in similarities in many methods and ornamentation that are nearly identical across several centuries. Along with a printed quality, the fascinating textile source was studied closely during a research visit to the Design Museum in Denmark, focusing on two Japanese textile sample books dating from around the 1870s to 1880s. An essay has been published alongside this visual story, offering a thorough historical analysis of the two catalogues.

Close-up of a Japanese sample catalogue featuring fabric swatches with floral patterns in green, blue, and gold.

The long history of Japanese textile art dates back to the 5th and 6th centuries AD, when many skilled textile artisans from Korea and China migrated to the Japanese islands. Around the same time, a significant import of silk cloth from these regions inspired and enriched Japan's silk weaving expertise. Over the next thousand years, silk weaving was continuously practised in several areas, notably Kyoto and Osaka. Initially, such silks were designed for wealthy clients to order exclusive fabrics for clothing and other textile objects in late 19th-century Japan. This beautiful close-up detail from the sample catalogue, comprising 22 pages, highlights the delicate silk brocade design and the colours used in this Japanese collection. A decorative fabric like this, with relative sturdiness without long floating weft threads and great beauty, was often used for kimonos for centuries.

Tree-lined walkway leads to a sculpture in front of a long, light-colored building. Sunlight filters through the trees onto the green grass. A stone path winds through the trees toward the building.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches of varying colors and patterns on aged paper.

Open catalogue showing various Japanese textile samples with gold and floral patterns on a silver background.

Open catalogue displays Japanese fabric samples. Rectangular swatches in varied sizes show floral and geometric patterns in gold, brown, purple, and green hues. Silver background.

Open catalogue displays mounted Japanese textile samples. The left page features floral patterns in blues, greens, and peach. The right page shows striped patterns in browns and tans, one frayed.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches. The left page shows a large, woven plaid sample. The right page contains several smaller fabric swatches with floral and geometric patterns.

Japanese sample catalogues:

Fabric swatches are adhered to a white page, showing a variety of patterns and colors, including floral, geometric, and abstract designs in blues, greens, browns, and golds.

This patterned quality is quite different. A leaf motif in two colours was printed on plain-woven fibre ramie or hemp fabric. Decorating fabrics with dyes using various techniques has a long history in many countries, including Japan. For this particular sample, two stencils were used, one at a time, for the two red shades. The stencil design was relatively small due to the repetitive small leaf motif. It was also common to apply rice paste to the fabric before dyeing to protect the undyed ground, a paste that was easily washed away after the dyes had dried completely. Notably, this is the only dyed motif in the two studied sample catalogues.

Close-up of a fabric sample with a repeating maple leaf pattern in red and brown on a tan burlap background.

Close-up of Japanese textile sample featuring green floral patterns outlined in gold thread. The fabric has a textured, woven appearance.

Open Japanese sample catalogue showing fabric swatches with floral and geometric patterns in muted blues, greens, browns, and reds, arranged on white pages.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches in varying sizes, colors, and floral patterns against a silver background.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches in varying sizes, textures, and floral patterns against a white background. Colors include gold, blue, pink, green, and brown.

Japanese textile samples are mounted on white cards, displaying floral and geometric patterns in gold, brown, and navy hues.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays multiple fabric swatches in varying sizes and colors, including brown, gold, and navy, each with unique floral and geometric patterns.

This beautiful and truthful artwork on a golden background is a striking comparison with the sample catalogues, showcasing the exquisite qualities of Japanese fabrics of various kinds, most of which were owned by the wealthiest classes of Japanese society during the Edo period (1615-1868). That is to say, right up to the period when the preserved sample catalogues were woven. Both men and women wore nightgowns or robes; the women's models were often floral or woven with repetitive patterns, whereas men’s were simpler in style. These richly crafted garments, displayed on wooden, ornamented racks, were illustrated in ink, colour, silver, and gold leaf on paper, roughly 150cm by 332cm.

Japanese folding screen depicts kimono fabrics hanging on a black lacquer rack against a gold leaf background. Fabrics display patterns of fans, flowers, and geometric designs.

The uniquely preserved five books named ‘Nihon sank meibutsu zue’, numbered 1 to 5, illustrate Japanese local life and craftsmanship in the 18th century. Bound volumes, which, according to the catalogue information from Uppsala University Library, were probably brought to Sweden by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1776, when he left Japan after about 15 months in the country. For this visual story, one image related to the production of fabric has been chosen to exemplify the cultural contexts and the exchange of goods from a textile perspective in Japan. In volume three, this illustration demonstrates the weaving of complex patterned silk fabric on a draw loom. The male weaver used the shuttle and chose the shedding order from the ten treadles with his bare feet, whilst the assistant on top of the draw loom simultaneously drew the correct warp threads for the desired design. The other two individuals showed the stages of preparing and winding the weft threads onto bobbins.

Open Japanese sample catalogue shows woodblock prints of textile production. Three figures operate a loom on the left page, and a seated figure weaves on the right page, with Japanese text alongside.

Library interior with rows of wooden tables and chairs illuminated by lamps. Bookshelves line the walls, filled with books. A display shows a

Close-up of Japanese sample catalogues with gold-trimmed fabric swatches on textured paper. A long, narrow strip and two square swatches display intricate floral and geometric patterns.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches with gold trim on textured paper. Swatches feature floral and geometric patterns in blue, brown, and orange hues.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays six fabric swatches with gold borders on textured paper. Swatches include floral, geometric, and abstract designs in blue, brown, and orange hues.

Six Japanese textile swatches with gold borders are arranged on a light gray page. Patterns include clouds, geometric shapes, flowers, and a bird.

Open Japanese sample catalogue shows fabric swatches with gold borders. The swatches vary in size, color, and pattern including floral, checkered, and geometric designs.

Japanese sample catalogues show three fabric swatches with gold borders on white paper. The left swatch depicts a temple scene with clouds and waves. The bottom right swatch shows blue floral patterns on black fabric, with gold flowers. The top right swatch shows a green fan pattern on purple.

Woven textile art depicts a Japanese landscape with a temple above swirling clouds and stylized waves, framed in gold.

Close-up of woven Japanese textile sample, depicting swirling clouds in blue, red, green, and yellow. Vertical red stripes appear above the clouds.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays seven fabric swatches with gold borders. The swatches feature floral and geometric patterns in green, blue, brown, and black.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches with gold borders on cream paper. Swatches feature floral and geometric patterns in brown, white, blue, and purple hues.

Open Japanese sample catalogue showing fabric swatches in gold frames on cream paper. Swatches include floral patterns, coins, and geometric designs in brown, orange, green, and blue.

Close-up of Japanese sample catalogues featuring floral and geometric textile patterns with gold trim.

Six Japanese textile samples with gold trim are arranged on a page. The samples feature geometric, floral, and abstract patterns in blue, gold, red, and gray.

Open Japanese sample catalogue displays fabric swatches with gold trim, featuring floral and geometric patterns in silver, green, and orange hues.

Japanese sample catalogue shows four textile swatches with gold trim, mounted on aged paper. Swatches include a white phoenix on indigo, red geometric patterns, pink floral pattern, and black/gray triangles.

Page from a Japanese sample catalogue shows four fabric swatches with gold borders. The fabric patterns include floral and geometric designs in blue, brown, and green.

Four Japanese textile samples are displayed in a catalogue. The samples are framed with gold trim and show floral and geometric patterns in red, green, and cream.

Over the centuries, during the Edo period (1603-1868) and even earlier, plain weave, net ground weave, ribbed fabric, or satin—often double warp and weft systems—have developed countless variations within these Japanese silk weaving traditions. Small, repetitive figures have consistently been among the most popular design groups; birds were also a recurring motif.

Open Japanese sample catalogue showing fabric swatches with gold borders on each page. The left page has three swatches, and the right has two.

RARE OTHER EXAMPLES

The two well-preserved Japanese sample books, still in their original bindings, are rare survivors from Europe's and America's perspectives. In comparison, this visual story concludes with two 19th-century Japanese woven silk samples and one printed and painted silk sample, which were originally part of sample books but are now kept at the Metropolitan Museum in New York as a collection of loose samples. The similarities in designs and weaving techniques are clearly visible.

Close-up of a Japanese textile sample with a floral pattern in blue, brown, and green on a beige linen background.

Close-up of textile sample with repeating floral pattern; blue floral outlines on a tan, textured background.

Sample of woven Japanese textile with floral pattern in green, navy, and gold threads, mounted on cardstock. Number

IDEA & TEXT BY

Viveka Hansen

CONTRIBUTORS

We are grateful to the Estrid Ericsson Foundation in Sweden for funding a research visit to the Design Museum’s Library in København, Denmark, to study, analyse, and document the Japanese sample collections. Also, thank you to the Museum Library for assisting with their collections.

SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

All pictures (except five, listed below) were taken at the Design Museum’s Library in København, Denmark.

By Viveka Hansen, The IK Foundation.

Other picture credits.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US (Three Textile Samples from Sample Book: Rogers Fund, 1909: No: 09.50.3499, 09.50.3490 & 09.50.3733. & Silk robes: No: 62.36.2,.3).

Uppsala University Library, Sweden. Alvin-record: 91777. Public Domain. (Japanese weavers: Artist and engraver: Mitsunobu Hasegawa (1721-1755) from Osaka).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cock-Clausen, Ingeborg, Tekstilprøver fra danske arkiver og museer 1750-1975, København 1987.

Denney, Joyce, ‘Japan and the Textile Trade in Context’, Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade; 1500-1800, pp. 56-65, New York 2013.

Design Museum Denmark, København. (The Library. Japanese Textile Sample Books: I19072 Ø004 & I5654 Ø08). Research visit, November 2025.

Hansen, Viveka, Textilia Linnaeana – Global 18th Century Textile Traditions & Trade, London 2017 (Chapter of Carl Peter Thunberg, pp. 253-282).

Hansen, Viveka, Textilis Essays, ‘Japanese Textiles in the 1770s – Collections amassed by Carl Peter Thunberg’ (No: CCXIV| January 19, 2026).

Jackson, Anna, Japanese Textiles in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2000.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US (online Japanese sample collection).

Miller, Lesley Ellis, Lafuente, Ana Cabrera & Allen-Johnstone Claire, Ed., Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion, V&A, London 2021.

Thunberg, Carl Peter, Travels in Europe, Africa and Asia, performed between the years 1770 and 1779. vol I-IV., London 1793-1795.

This Visual Story is part of a two-episode series. Explore the essay here…

Close-up of a textured, aged Japanese paper sample with vertical stripes in alternating light and dark beige tones.

iEXPOSURE is a resource in The IK Workshop Society – a global and unique forum for all those interested in Natural & Cultural History.

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