Suminagashi Resources and References

The following are some basic references on Suminagashi:

Benson, Jake. “Historical References to Marbling in East Asia.” Society of Marbling Annual. (2005): 20–27.Excellent overview of what is known or surmised about the origins of suminagashi.
Chambers, Anne. Suminagashi The Japanese Art of Marbling A Practical Guide. Thames and Hudson, 1991.Includes Narita’s history, Chambers meetings with contemporary (at the time) artists, basic techniques and some photos of modern and classic papers
Guyot, Don. Suminagashi: An Introduction to Japanese Marbling. Brass Galley Press 1988.A good, basic introduction and guide to the process of suminagashi.
Narita, Kiyofusa. A Life of Ts’ai Luing and Japanese Paper-making, revised and enlarged edition. The Dainihon Press, Tokyo. 1966.The chapter on suminagashi provides an overview of history of the subject
Yagi, Tokutaro.
Suminagashi-zome. Translation by Kyoko Muecke. Wood Engravings by Rik Olson. Marbling by Robin Heyeck.
Woodside, CA: The Heyeck Press, 1992.
Describes Tokutaro Yagi’s process for silk suminagashi dyeing – a complex process, even the patterns he made are complicated, and as can be seen in the Gallery, different patterns were used for fabric than paper.
Rabinovitch, Judith N. and Bradstock, Timothy R. The Kanshi Poems of the Ozasa Tanzaku Collection: Late Edo Life Through the Eyes of Kyoto Townsmen. International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Kyoto, Japan, 2002.Contains good, general information about the development and use of Tanzaku, and translations of some of the poems in the collection although none that are specific to the suminagashi examples.

The following table lists some of the sources for materials I have found most useful:

Washi ArtsGood source of Japanese papers, hand and machine mademy primary sourcehttps://www.washiarts.com/
Hiromi PaperAnother good source of Japanese paper although provides a little less information about the respective papers (sizing, etc)https://hiromipaper.com/
Kremer PigmentsSource of pigments and other supplies for ink preparationhttps://shop.kremerpigments.com/us/
US PlasticsOffers a good range of trays, some quite large, suitable for suminagashihttps://www.usplastic.com