Book of Designs (Kame jirushi Shin Komon hon chō 亀印 新小紋本帳 )
A Japanese pattern book of 1680 presenting textile designs, likely kept as a reference for dyers and makers of kimono fabric. The pages show rows of small dark square swatches, each a different fine repeating motif set on a grey mount, with no text or figures visible in these pictures. A designer could draw on the variety of tiny stencil-like repeats, dots, lattices and wave-like textures as ready-made surface patterns.
