DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1399#0206
PLATE 267.
BRONZES FROM JAPAN AND CHINA
f I ^HE Japanese bronzes which we have selected for illustration are from the collections of
-*- Sir R. Alcock, C.B., Dr. Barton, and Messrs. Renii, Schmidt, & Co. The variety, cleverness,
and quaintness of the Japanese bronzes, and the beauty of their material, were very striking.
They were of all classes of design, from purely conventional to the perfectly realistic; and,
although pervaded by a strong sense of grotesque fun, were full of a true feeling for nature.
The candlesticks were very numerous, some rising from dragons, some from storks,* a
common design for which is seen in No. 8; others formed by branches of trees, foliage, &c.
The folding pocket candlesticks were peculiarly curious and ingenious. Some of the vases,
the inlaid ones especially, were of a purity of outline which might vie with the best antiques of
Greece or Rome. The damascening of these was also remarkably delicate, as seen in No. 3.
For spirited design and difficulty of casting, nothing could be finer than Dr. Barton's large
dragon vase, No. 1, every minute detail of which aided the expression of the monster's furious
rage. How grotesquely and yet how truthfully nature was adapted, may be judged of by the subjects
numbered 2, 6, and 10; the two first being paper-weights, the third a lamp. The awkward
scuttling of the cuttle-fish, the greediness and pugnacity of the sea crayfish, the squeaking
mouse-like bat in full flight, were wonderfully rendered. No. 4 is an incense-burner with open-
work cover, on elephant-head tripod vase, surmounted by a recumbent elephant. From its close
resemblance to the great enamelled stove found in the Summer Palace, it is probably of Chinese
manufacture. No. 11 is a lamp composed of three separate parts, all the ornament being formed
by conventional representations of clouds. In this, as in most of their work, the Japanese evince
their fondness for making small pieces, and then joining them to form one large design. Besides
these were to be remarked a number of scent-bottles, modelled after pomegranates, gourds, and
other fruit; baskets of wicker-work pattern, over which crawls a bee, snail, or other insect,
to relieve the flatness of the surface. Nature was exquisitely reproduced in small branches or
sprigs of foliage, tortoises, &c.; whilst the boldest and most unorthodox principle of design
was successfully carried out in a bronze vase, the sides of which represented the mountain Fusi-
Yama, on a stand formed of conventional waves and spray. We may add, that the figure-subjects
in this collection, mainly horsemen, were not very good; and this may arise from the fact
that the artist has no higher position assigned to him than an ordinary mechanic ; architect
and carpenter, sculptor and brazier, belonging to the same class, with the difference only obtained
by superior wealth.
Copper, the basis of bronze, abounds in Japan. Thunberg describes it as containing more
gold, and being finer, than any in the world. It is used largely for roofs, ships, domestic
utensils, tobacco-pipes, and, indeed, every conceivable purpose.
Tin, also, is plentiful; and Golownin states, that not only musket-bullets, but even cannon-balls,
are cast of tin, which serve the purpose of the Japanese, who have had no wars for 200 years.
Thus abundantly provided with the materials for bronze, it is no wonder that it has become so
largely used and so well manipulated in the hands of an intelligent and observant race.
The art of bronze-casting is one of the very highest antiquity in China; from whence, there
can be no doubt, the Japanese obtained much of their civilization. The Chinese historians give
descriptions and drawings, in sixteen large volumes, of bronze and other vessels of the Shang, the
Chow, and Han dynasties, reaching back to nearly 2000 years B.C. Many of these have been ably
reproduced, both drawings and translations, by Mr. P. O. Thorns, in his remarkable tract on
Ancient Chinese Vases. M. Labarte states, but without giving his authority, that Yu, who was
associated on the throne with Chun more than 2200 years B.C., caused nine brass vessels to
be cast, upon each of which he had engraved the map and description of one of the nine provinces
of the empire. From China the art of bronze-casting would appear to have passed to Japan;
but, with all the other industrial arts, it received a development there which gives its productions a
much higher character than those of the Chinese, as was evinced by the comparative simplicity,
purity of form, and strong feeling for nature indicated in the Japanese collection of 1862.
* The stork, tortoise, and pine-tree are employed amongst the Japanese as three emblems of longevity. Halloran
saw a stork at Ningpo, in China, which the owner assured him had been in the family one hundred and twenty years.
This beats the tortoise which White of Selborne describes as a hundred years old.
t For a detailed and very curious description of the Japanese process of smelting copper ore, see Thunberg,
vol. iii. p. 224.
BRONZES FROM JAPAN AND CHINA
f I ^HE Japanese bronzes which we have selected for illustration are from the collections of
-*- Sir R. Alcock, C.B., Dr. Barton, and Messrs. Renii, Schmidt, & Co. The variety, cleverness,
and quaintness of the Japanese bronzes, and the beauty of their material, were very striking.
They were of all classes of design, from purely conventional to the perfectly realistic; and,
although pervaded by a strong sense of grotesque fun, were full of a true feeling for nature.
The candlesticks were very numerous, some rising from dragons, some from storks,* a
common design for which is seen in No. 8; others formed by branches of trees, foliage, &c.
The folding pocket candlesticks were peculiarly curious and ingenious. Some of the vases,
the inlaid ones especially, were of a purity of outline which might vie with the best antiques of
Greece or Rome. The damascening of these was also remarkably delicate, as seen in No. 3.
For spirited design and difficulty of casting, nothing could be finer than Dr. Barton's large
dragon vase, No. 1, every minute detail of which aided the expression of the monster's furious
rage. How grotesquely and yet how truthfully nature was adapted, may be judged of by the subjects
numbered 2, 6, and 10; the two first being paper-weights, the third a lamp. The awkward
scuttling of the cuttle-fish, the greediness and pugnacity of the sea crayfish, the squeaking
mouse-like bat in full flight, were wonderfully rendered. No. 4 is an incense-burner with open-
work cover, on elephant-head tripod vase, surmounted by a recumbent elephant. From its close
resemblance to the great enamelled stove found in the Summer Palace, it is probably of Chinese
manufacture. No. 11 is a lamp composed of three separate parts, all the ornament being formed
by conventional representations of clouds. In this, as in most of their work, the Japanese evince
their fondness for making small pieces, and then joining them to form one large design. Besides
these were to be remarked a number of scent-bottles, modelled after pomegranates, gourds, and
other fruit; baskets of wicker-work pattern, over which crawls a bee, snail, or other insect,
to relieve the flatness of the surface. Nature was exquisitely reproduced in small branches or
sprigs of foliage, tortoises, &c.; whilst the boldest and most unorthodox principle of design
was successfully carried out in a bronze vase, the sides of which represented the mountain Fusi-
Yama, on a stand formed of conventional waves and spray. We may add, that the figure-subjects
in this collection, mainly horsemen, were not very good; and this may arise from the fact
that the artist has no higher position assigned to him than an ordinary mechanic ; architect
and carpenter, sculptor and brazier, belonging to the same class, with the difference only obtained
by superior wealth.
Copper, the basis of bronze, abounds in Japan. Thunberg describes it as containing more
gold, and being finer, than any in the world. It is used largely for roofs, ships, domestic
utensils, tobacco-pipes, and, indeed, every conceivable purpose.
Tin, also, is plentiful; and Golownin states, that not only musket-bullets, but even cannon-balls,
are cast of tin, which serve the purpose of the Japanese, who have had no wars for 200 years.
Thus abundantly provided with the materials for bronze, it is no wonder that it has become so
largely used and so well manipulated in the hands of an intelligent and observant race.
The art of bronze-casting is one of the very highest antiquity in China; from whence, there
can be no doubt, the Japanese obtained much of their civilization. The Chinese historians give
descriptions and drawings, in sixteen large volumes, of bronze and other vessels of the Shang, the
Chow, and Han dynasties, reaching back to nearly 2000 years B.C. Many of these have been ably
reproduced, both drawings and translations, by Mr. P. O. Thorns, in his remarkable tract on
Ancient Chinese Vases. M. Labarte states, but without giving his authority, that Yu, who was
associated on the throne with Chun more than 2200 years B.C., caused nine brass vessels to
be cast, upon each of which he had engraved the map and description of one of the nine provinces
of the empire. From China the art of bronze-casting would appear to have passed to Japan;
but, with all the other industrial arts, it received a development there which gives its productions a
much higher character than those of the Chinese, as was evinced by the comparative simplicity,
purity of form, and strong feeling for nature indicated in the Japanese collection of 1862.
* The stork, tortoise, and pine-tree are employed amongst the Japanese as three emblems of longevity. Halloran
saw a stork at Ningpo, in China, which the owner assured him had been in the family one hundred and twenty years.
This beats the tortoise which White of Selborne describes as a hundred years old.
t For a detailed and very curious description of the Japanese process of smelting copper ore, see Thunberg,
vol. iii. p. 224.