Studio: international art (53.1911)

Japanese Art and Artists of To-day.—VI. Cloisonnd Enamels

JAPANESE ART AND ARTISTS Many claim that the ware had been christened
OF TO-DAY VI CLOISONNE shippo yaki by the Japanese, although it was
ENAMEL-WORK. BY PROF. <™usly failed orandayaki, or Dutch ware by

Kaji I sunekichi and others, when a piece ot it
JIRO HARADA. falling into his hand led to his discovery of this

There are two distinct qualities or types ex- art after years of hard labour, and to the manu-
pressed in Japanese art: one suggesting endless facture in 1832 (or 1839 according to some accounts)
patience in the execution of minute detail, the of a plate six inches in diameter, the first piece of
other denoting a momentary conception of some modern cloisonne enamel as we know it to-day.
fleeting idea carried out with boldness and freedom While the writer keenly feels the need of a com-
of expression in form and line—profuse complexity plete and systematic record of the development of
and extreme simplicity.* The people of the West, this art, no attempt will be made in this short
finding these apparently inconsistent qualities treatise to meet that want. Interesting as a
existing in old Japanese art, marvelled at the minute account of the modern struggle during the
former quality, and were fascinated by the latter. last fifty years or so to develop shippo in Japan
While it is impossible to find either type applied might prove to be, it is not the intention of the
exclusively to any one class of work, it must be writer to make any effort along those lines. The
admitted that certain branches of art industry are purpose of the present article is little more than to
more adapted for the expression of one of these set down a few observations which have occurred
artistic qualities than the other. Like
damascene work and the decora-
tions on Satsuma ware, the work on
Japanese cloisonne ware generally ex-
hibits the quality suggestive of un-
wearying labour and patience.

Cloisonne enamels are known
amongst the Japanese by the name
of shippo, a contraction of two words :
shichi, denoting seven, and ho, meaning
treasures. Some authorities endeavour
to trace the term to an old Buddhist
book, discrediting the Chinese origin
on the strength of this particular ware
being referred to in some old Chinese
books as " ware of devil's country,"
suggesting thereby that they were of
foreign importation. However, it is
obvious that the name shippo has been
thought most appropriate in Japan, in-
asmuch as the exquisite beauty of the
work gave it the appearance of having
been wrought with the seven precious
things, commonly known to consist of
gold, silver, emerald, coral, agate,
crystal, and pearl. The term shippo
is used by Soami to record the fact
that Ashikaga Yoshimasa, in the second
quarter of the fifteenth century, had
considered it superior to inlaid work.

* The writer has endeavoured to point
out these two phases in Japanese art in
his article on "Japanese Temples and
their Treasures," which appeared in the

January number of The Studio., ando jubki's enamel artists at work

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