Kamon — Japanese family crest linocut prints — Gold ink on black paper

Linocut print of 4 different Kamon, Japanese heraldic symbols.
The price is for 1 print.

The prints are individually hand-printed, so each piece is 100% unique.

— Frame and decorations are not included
— Free shipping
— Handmade in London, UK
— 10x10 cm / 3.94"x3.94"
— Printed on 220gms black paper with oil-based relief gold ink

A bit of description for each kamon:

1) 瓜 (mokko) "melon", one of the most ancient and common, since it's known to have been used on court costumes in China. The emblem bears some resemblance to a cucumber's cross-section, considered a category of melon in Japan. Some versions, like this one, enclose some variants of the China flower, the plum blossom. I printed the variant with six sections.

2) 鳥居 (torii) "Shinto Gateway". A Torii is a Japanese gate usually found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine, and it marks the passage from the mundane to the sacred. As a crest, the Torii was mostly used by persons professionally associated with Shinto but also by the Torii family. It’s a simple sign but yet visually compelling.

3) 帆 (ho) "sail" (3 vessels). I chose this symbol because of my passion for the sea, but apparently, sea-related symbols weren't common during the period when heraldry flourished, despite Japan being four islands.

4) Another variation of 帆 (ho) "sail" (1 vessel). The sea's representation looks so modern that it seems coming from a recent graphic design book. Those emblems have around 1000 years!