overall: 25 cm x 13 cm x 1.5 cm; 9 27/32 in x 5 1/8 in x 19/32 in
Object Name:
Sample Book
Place made:
Japan: Kyōto, Kyoto
Date made:
1904
Description:
Accordion folded paper book with 35 printed cotton flannel samples in various designs, mostly in browns & blues. One sample unglued. Cover is white with red & black graphics: some Japanese lettering and a bird on a red sun. Designs dated 1904.
Marked on cover: Samples: " (/) Kyoto Cotton Flannel Co., (/) Limited (/) Kyoto, Japan." Dimensions: Approximately 10" x 5" closed.
Consular Collection: Part of collection of samples acquired by US Consuls overseas between about 1898 and 1918, in the interests of promoting US trade and business opportunities; which was transferred by the Dept. of Commerce in the 1920s-30s. Japan was beginning to be competitive internationally in the cotton textile market by 1904. The country would also become competitive in wool manufacturing and a highly important rayon producer by the 1930s.