[Shokko Nishiki (Red Shu Brocade)]
"Shokko Nishiki" originally means a red brocade woven at a mill in Chengdu, capital of Shu (221-263 A.D.). The brocade had long been known for its beauty in ancient China. Later, the term came to be applied to a particular type of geometric pattern, regardless of the origin of the fabric.
At the Horyuji temple, Nara, there are preserved two kinds of "Shokko Nishiki", designated as Important Cultural Assets, one with a floral design in squares and the other a geometric pattern, both on a red ground.
This piece is a reproduction of the "Shokko Nishiki" which is supported to have been made in Chona in the 14th Century and handed down as a "Meibutsu-gire(a celebrated textile fabric) at the House of Maeda, a great feudal lord in the Edo period (1600-1868). It is executed as a warp-patterned brocade with a sophisticated color scheme.
[Heizo TATSUMURA] 1876~1962
Heizo was born in Osaka in 1876. Born at a wealthy merchant house, he was given to good education, art and literature. Unfortunately his parent’s business went bankrupt when he was 16 years old, then he moved to Nishijin, Kyoto and started to handle Nishijin brocade. Heizo founded TATSUMURA TEXTILE Co. in Kyoto in 1906. He produced artistic brocade as well as studying and reconstruction of ancient textiles.