Water-pattern textile

Cheney Brothers|Associated Artists

1883–1900 · Silk, woven · The American Wing

This abstracted water pattern seems to have been derived from a photolithograph in Thomas W. Cutler’s widely read pattern book A Grammar of Japanese Ornament and Design (1880). The plate illustrates fourteen different ways that Japanese artists represented water; one of them is matched almost exactly by the design of this fabric. Pattern books such as Cutler’s helped professional artists and amateurs alike become familiar with the Japanese design vocabulary.

Artist

Cheney Brothers|Associated Artists

Date

1883–1900

Medium

Silk, woven

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Boudinot Keith, 1928