Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period

A catalogue of the Ashmolean’s Japanese decorative arts from the Meiji period (1868-1912), by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman (published Oxford, 2005).

Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912 by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman

Publications online: 54 objects

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Baluster vase with chrysanthemums

  • Literature notes

    Plique-à-jour baluster-shaped vase decorated with chrysanthemums in coloured enamels against a translucent pale green background. The base and the upper rim mounted in silver.

    Cloisonné enamel from which the supporting background had been removed, thus rendering it transparent, is called plique-à-jour, (shōtai-jippō in Japanese). It is extremely fragile. This very difficult technique was invented in France and first came to the notice of the Japanese enamellers when it was seen at the Paris Exposition in 1900 by Andō Jūbei. He bought some pieces by Fernand Thesmar, and it was from these that Kawade Shibatarō is said to have learned the technique. The skill spread, and other makers were soon producing it, most notably Hattori Tadasaburō, but we are unable to attribute this unsigned piece.
  • Details

    Associated place
    AsiaJapanHonshūAichi prefecture Nagoya (place of creation)
    Date
    1900 - 1910
    Material and technique
    plique-à-jour cloisonné enamel; silver mounts
    Dimensions
    12.3 cm (height)
    7.6 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased with the assistance of the Story Fund, 1990.
    Accession no.
    EA1990.5
  • Further reading

    Impey, Oliver, and Joyce Seaman, Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912, Ashmolean Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 43 on p. 90, pp. 8 & 74, illus. p. 91

Glossary (2)

cloisonné, plique-à-jour

  • cloisonné

    Decorative technique in which wires are attached to a metal body and coloured enamels are applied between the wires.

  • plique-à-jour

    Type of cloisonné enamel in which the metal supporting body has been removed using acid.

Location

    • Second floor | Room 36 | Japan

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Publications online

  • Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912 by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman

    Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period

    Plique-à-jour baluster-shaped vase decorated with chrysanthemums in coloured enamels against a translucent pale green background. The base and the upper rim mounted in silver.

    Cloisonné enamel from which the supporting background had been removed, thus rendering it transparent, is called plique-à-jour, (shōtai-jippō in Japanese). It is extremely fragile. This very difficult technique was invented in France and first came to the notice of the Japanese enamellers when it was seen at the Paris Exposition in 1900 by Andō Jūbei. He bought some pieces by Fernand Thesmar, and it was from these that Kawade Shibatarō is said to have learned the technique. The skill spread, and other makers were soon producing it, most notably Hattori Tadasaburō, but we are unable to attribute this unsigned piece.
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