Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 3. (Budapest, 1975)

FERENCZY, László: Traditions and new trends in the Japanese art of the Meiji era

In spite of its small size it recalls in the observer Takamura Koun's large-size wooden monkey in the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. Also Kosai 's statuette comes from the 1878 Paris exhibition. Dominant in number in our exhibition were pieces of varioirs handicrafts, and within them ceramics. In the field of applied arts there were perhaps smaller shocks — apart from the initial troubles — than painting had to face. Individual masters and also workshops were relatively quick in finding the key to the new trend and produced mostly for exports or for visiting tourists and collectors. This situation with the slow decay of handicrafts during the late Tokugawa era resulted in a number of objects becoming out of function and reduced practically to decorations. It had been observed also in Europe that works of traditional handicrafts coming from China and Japan were of a lower value. Lessing mentioned pretty early that the quality of lacquers had got poorer with every year and that ever more porcelains were meant to satisfy European tastes. He warned these countries that connection with western countries should not residt in a loss of fineness of art and in the manufacturing of poor quality.

16 In metalwork, e.g. the switch-over meant that masters and families formerly in the service of daimyos as makers of swordmounts took up the making of wrought iron ornaments, cigarette and other cases, mainly for exportation and for visiting tourists. Bronze casters working in the old days mostly for Buddhist temples began to prepare household utensils and fancy articles. At the 1873 Vienna Fair the Japanese sold gold cuff links. A remarkable piece of our precious-metal collection is a cylinder-shaped silver tea box and a delicately engraved peacock of very fine workmanship, the latter made by Gyoko. Otajiro Kőmai, a Kyoto master of the late 19th century famous for 6. KANZAN DENSHICHI: BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN BRUSH-HOLDER. ABOUT 1870. his gold-indlaid iron works was represented at the exhibition by several pieces (Figure 5).

17 One of these small plates is decorated with a Shinto shrine with torii, houses, a bridge and a pagoda with the Fujisan in the background. On one of his larger-size plates the entrance to a garden, with stone lamp, a bridge, buildings and a full landscape are given, rendered in very minute inlaid work. Komai's signature is found on a small openable iron chest of drawers decorated on the two sides with the pictures of the Kinkakuji and the Ginkakuji in Kyoto. In front there