japonisme: safety glass

03 May 2007

safety glass

these are kageyama, the stencils with which kimono fabric is made.









this is kimono fabric.









edouard benedictus was a designer of fabric and wallpaper patterns.

his rug designs are of my favorites. here are some. and here is where to get in touch with the arts and crafts home, which grows more comprehensive all the time, with biographies of the artists/craftspeople of the period, and and increasingly wide selection of examples.

he also coordinates a service wherein rugs of distant eras can be woven anew for you. god i wish i was rich.

so why, you might ask, is this post entitled 'safety glass'? In 1903, a French chemist called Edouard Benedictus dropped a glass flask on the floor of his laboratory. The flask shattered but, to Benedictus's surprise, the glass did not fly apart. Rather, the shards and splinters stayed together in the shape of the original flask. The flask had contained a solution of cellulose nitrate. A thin film of this chemical had been left behind in the flask and formed a lining. This lining was strong enough to hold the glass together when it broke. Benedictus kept and labelled the interesting flask. He thought little more of it until a few weeks later, when he read of two accidents in which motorists had crashed and been seriously injured by flying glass. (more)

yup. same guy.

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7 Comments:

Blogger * said...

the most upper picture is great. I wish I could frame the fabric and put it on the wall, always thought that nice clothes fabric would be so nice also on the wall...

05 May, 2007 05:30  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

i always put fabric on my walls! it's a lovely idea! -- and welcome! your blog is so beautiful

05 May, 2007 16:04  
Blogger harlequinpan said...

Very nice pattern languages!!

06 May, 2007 07:20  
Blogger woolgathersome said...

What a lovely world I've just discovered! I can't wait until I have a few hours to read on....

I have a piece of fabric framed as well. Not certain where it came from, but I believe it is from Japan...

06 May, 2007 07:35  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

pan! what an interesting comment! i have heard that phrase before but don't exactly know what it means--can you enlighten me?

kclare--thanks! welcome and then an advance welcome back.

now i want to see the fabric you have framed! but i don't have fabric frames, i just hang big pieces of fabric on the wall!

07 May, 2007 08:17  
Blogger harlequinpan said...

When I studied architecture at the college, In the course of Design method , we should read "A Pattern Language" which by Christopher Alexander (but it seems not applicable to me :)) ), i'm afraid i can't express the meaning, Please click here

Thanks for your sharing .

08 May, 2007 02:28  
Blogger Diane Dehler said...

I have framed laced and enjoyed these designs.

11 May, 2007 01:07  

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hi, and thanks so much for stopping by. i spend all too much time thinking my own thoughts about this stuff, so please tell me yours. i thrive on the exchange!

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