DOI Heft:
American section
DOI Artikel:Upson, Arthur: The art of Shippô Yaki: illustrated from the collection of Dr. Alfred Owre, Minneapolis
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28250#0447
Shippo Yaki
JAPANESE PLAQUE
MIDDLE PERIOD
The Late Period, then, may be said to begin with
1830. Since 1875 so much technical progress has
been made, especially in the handling of metallic
oxides to produce colours, and in
fusing, that it seems logical to break
the period there, and classify speci-
mens produced within the past thirty
years as “Modern.”
Late Period ware shows, in designs,
the influence of eighteenth century
reformers in its freedom from purely
Chinese conventions, and that of the
democratic movement inaugurated
by Hokusai and his followers in its
vitality and boldness. The distinct-
ive diaper patterns of the two earlier
periods, particularly of the Middle
Period, and the prevalent back-
ground greens of both Early and
Middle, no longer separate sharply
the Japanese from, the Chinese cloi-
sonne; even the thickness of the en-
amel and the weight of metal bases,
in their approximation to Chinese
models, show the entire detachment
of the Owari artisans from Jap-
anese traditions. But neither were
they Chinese in their allegiance,
as their freedom in design and colour
shows. They were original. The ex-
clusive application of the unworldly
beauties of shippo to shrine and
palace was forgotten; and even as
Hokusai introduced a new order of
things in pictorial art, redeeming it
from the enfeeblement of seclusion,
so Tsunekichi and his pupils applied
the art of enamelling to objects of
everyday utility.
When, in 1867, the last of the
Shogun transported his hoarded treas-
ures of industrial art to the Paris Ex-
position with the unprofessed inten-
tion of selling them in support of his
crumbling power, a few of the choi-
cest examples of shippo were included
in the exhibit. These and, in the next
years, many treasures of the defeated
daimio, were disbursed to eager col-
lectors. Up to that time, with the
single exception of Sir Rutherford
Alcock’s selection, shown in London
early in the sixties, Japanese enamels
may have been said to have been un-
known in Europe. Their beauty was a public
marvel. Many of the finest pieces ever done by the
old artists have thus been scattered in museums and
dr. owre’s
COLLECTION
JAPANESE PLAQUE
MIDDLE PERIOD
DR. OWRE S
COLLECTION
LXVII
JAPANESE PLAQUE
MIDDLE PERIOD
The Late Period, then, may be said to begin with
1830. Since 1875 so much technical progress has
been made, especially in the handling of metallic
oxides to produce colours, and in
fusing, that it seems logical to break
the period there, and classify speci-
mens produced within the past thirty
years as “Modern.”
Late Period ware shows, in designs,
the influence of eighteenth century
reformers in its freedom from purely
Chinese conventions, and that of the
democratic movement inaugurated
by Hokusai and his followers in its
vitality and boldness. The distinct-
ive diaper patterns of the two earlier
periods, particularly of the Middle
Period, and the prevalent back-
ground greens of both Early and
Middle, no longer separate sharply
the Japanese from, the Chinese cloi-
sonne; even the thickness of the en-
amel and the weight of metal bases,
in their approximation to Chinese
models, show the entire detachment
of the Owari artisans from Jap-
anese traditions. But neither were
they Chinese in their allegiance,
as their freedom in design and colour
shows. They were original. The ex-
clusive application of the unworldly
beauties of shippo to shrine and
palace was forgotten; and even as
Hokusai introduced a new order of
things in pictorial art, redeeming it
from the enfeeblement of seclusion,
so Tsunekichi and his pupils applied
the art of enamelling to objects of
everyday utility.
When, in 1867, the last of the
Shogun transported his hoarded treas-
ures of industrial art to the Paris Ex-
position with the unprofessed inten-
tion of selling them in support of his
crumbling power, a few of the choi-
cest examples of shippo were included
in the exhibit. These and, in the next
years, many treasures of the defeated
daimio, were disbursed to eager col-
lectors. Up to that time, with the
single exception of Sir Rutherford
Alcock’s selection, shown in London
early in the sixties, Japanese enamels
may have been said to have been un-
known in Europe. Their beauty was a public
marvel. Many of the finest pieces ever done by the
old artists have thus been scattered in museums and
dr. owre’s
COLLECTION
JAPANESE PLAQUE
MIDDLE PERIOD
DR. OWRE S
COLLECTION
LXVII