Shell Motifs (Kaigara dammen zuan)
Shell Motifs (Kaigara dammen zuan) is a 1913 Japanese pattern book by Hirase Yoichirō, published in Kyoto by Unsōdō for designers and craftspeople working with decorative motifs. Its pages are open double spreads of black-line roundels, rosettes and chains built from stylised shell and petal forms. A designer could take from them ready-made radial symmetry and interlocking repeat units suited to borders, textile prints and stencils.














