Threads of Silk and Gold: Ornamental Textiles from Meiji Japan
(from 9th Nov 2012 until 27th Jan 2013)Discover exquisite embroideries, dyed silk and velvet panels, tapestries, and appliqué works
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After the European ‘discovery’ of Japan in the mid-1800s, a craze for all things Japanese swept the West. In Britain, Japanese art was closely associated with the Aesthetic Movement, whose followers aspired to ‘live beautifully’. They created artistic homes that displayed carefully selected artistic furniture and objets d’art. Japanese and Japanese-inspired items took pride of place.
Part of the appeal of Japanese art was its affordability. In the wake of the industrial revolution in the late 19th century, the growing middle classes expressed their new-found social status through the purchase and display of items for their homes. While fine paintings and sculpture remained too expensive for many, textiles and other decorative arts were relatively accessible. Japanese and Japanese-inspired textiles were stocked in shops all over Europe and the United States at this time.
Fukusa, or gift cloth, depicting the legend of Jo and Uba (LI1983.1)
Textile with fans (EAX.3822)
Box with plaque depicting a duck swimming past reeds (EA1956.1787)
Kyo-Satsuma vase in double-gourd form with mandarin ducks under cherry blossom (EA1956.698)
Satsuma bowl with phoenix in clouds (EA1956.678)
Netsuke in the form of a dragon coiled around a bowl (EA2001.125)
Netsuke in the form of a Nō actor wearing a mask (EA1996.21)
Netsuke in the form of a boy rolling a yuki daruma, or snowman (EA1956.1738)
Okimono, or ornament, in the form of bamboo leaves and a cicada (EA2010.264)
Ojime in the form of a crab (EA1956.3023)
Figure of a stag beetle (EA1956.2824)
Figure of a flatfish (EA1956.2830)
Figure of a dragon (EA1956.2841)
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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