Japanese Cloisonn

"Published in conjunction with the exhibition Polished to Perfection: Japanese Cloisonne from the Collection of Donald K. Gerber and Sueann E. Sherry at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (May 28, 2017-February 4, 2018). This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art"--

"The production of Japanese cloisonne enamels had, by the end of the 19th century, become one of the country's most successful forms of manufacture and export. Using examples drawn from two collections, this book examines the techniques and social history behind the craft." "As well as being a showcase for beautiful examples of cloisonne work, this book shows how the interaction between East and West played a key role in production. The craft of cloisonne enamelling grew from long established traditions of Japanese metalwork but was expanded further with the help of western technical expertise and demand was stimulated by the strong export market. It has been the continuing popularity and appreciation of the craft in the west that has lead to its re-evaluation in Japan and the increasing acknowledgement of its importance for understanding Japan's artistic traditions." "This book will serve as an introduction to the full range of Japanese cloisonne enamels, as well as revealing to collectors and scholars treasures from two outstanding collections."--BOOK JACKET.

This is the first book in a European language to make a comprehensive study of the life and works of the astonishingly versatile and accomplished Meiji potter, Makuzu Kozan (1842 - 1916), who was acclaimed as one of the greatest ceramic artists of the Meiji period.The Meiji period, after the opening of Japan to the West in the mid-nineteenth century, was a time of momentous change for Japanese society and Kozan's Makuzu workshop makes an ideal case study to examine the effects of these changes on the Japanese ceramic industry. This book tells the story ofKozan's Makuzu wares from their origins in a traditional workshop in Kyoto to their maturity in a prolific factory in the newly-opened port of Yokohama, where Kozan's ability to cater to the demands of a new Western export market and to incorporate new Western glaze techniques led to enormoussuccess, both in Japan and abroad at the international exhibitions that flourished from the 1850s.Lavish illustrations highlight Kozan's remarkable and technical and artistic achievements, while ceramic marks and box inscriptions are analysed as a practical guide to dating Makuzu ware. Clare Pollard discusses the role of later generations of the Miyagawa family in the running of the workshop andrelates developments in Makuzu ware to the work of other major potters of the era, both in Japan and in Europe and America.Incorporating contemporary sources (including previously unstudied archival material from the Makuzu workshop itself), recent research and the study of a large corpus of Makuzu wares in museums and private collections all over the world, the book examines the artistic, political, and commercialfactors that influenced Kozan and his contemporaries as they strove to come to terms with shifting life-styles and changing attitudes to the arts, and moved towards the creation of a modern ceramic industry.

This book provides a detailed history of Japanese cloisonne enamel and the development of its many technical varieties. Part One presents the 400-year history and context of Japanese enamels from their beginnings around 1600, covering the crucial decades of the late 19th and early 20th centuries extensively. Part Two is organized by individual technique and categorizes and discusses the many variations of cloisonne enamel developed in Japan. Integrated into both parts are biographies of many cloisonne masters along with discussions of the technical and scientific underpinnings of the craft. The work is complemented by 32 color plates with 128 images, an extensive glossary, several appendices, an extensive bibliography and a full index.