Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 11. (Budapest, 1968)
HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Ferenczy, László: Japanese Inrö in the Hopp Museum
LÁSZLÓ FERENCZY JAPANESE INRÖ IN THE HOPP MUSEUM Part one Inrö with black, gold, gyöbu nashiji and nashiji grounds It seems that the discovery and scientific interpretation of the various branches of Asian art do not follow a straight line. This is the case in the field of Japanese lacquer work and especially of inrö. Interest in Japanese art lacquers among Western collectors increased towards a climax at the end of the last century. This was due partly to the great exhibitions of Japanese art arranged around the turn of the century in Paris, London and Vienna. As noted examples of the collecting trend the Behrens or Tomkinson collections might be mentioned. The development of Oriental departments in the large European museums went on in this period and was followed by the publication of catalogues. The catalogue of Japanese lacquer works in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in its second volume with the inrö, was the result of systematic research and served as a good example for other museums. 1 Since then, the most striking upswing in the publication of Oriental lacquers has been witnessed in the 1950'-s and 60'-s. Among recent publications in the West two works must be mentioned. 2 : The one by Kurt Herberts on East Asiatic lacquer art 3 is extremely useful thanks to its excellent coloured illustrations, descriptions and the supplemented biographic list of Japanese lacquerers compiled by N. Tsu da at the beginning of the century. 4 The work by Beatrix von Ragué on the Japanese art of lacquer is a most important comprehensive handbook on the history of Japanese lacquer which can be consulted very usefully with regard to the development of styles in lacquer work. 5 This is based on the comparison of dated lacquer works. However, the author mentions here but two dated inrö which are included in the list of dated lacquer works from the Edo period. One of them, an inrö made by Shiomi Masanari, was dated corresponding to the year 1710. It belonged to the former State Museum in Berlin but unfortunately has been lost since 1945. Its decoration consisted of a dragon-fly and of a locust in coloured togidashi on black ground. This inrö was well known in Japan too. The other inrö, in the Museum 1 Strange, E. F. : Catalogue of Japanese lacquer. Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 1924-25. 2 Another important recent publication is unfortunately unavailable here : Speiser, W.: Lackkunst in Ostasien. Baden-Baden, 1965. 3 Herberts, K.: Das Buch der ostasiatischen Lackkunst. Düsseldorf, 1959. 4 This was published anonymouslv, entitled "Makieshi nurishiden", in Tokvo in 1925. 5 von Bagué, B.: Geschichte der japanischen Lackkunst. Berlin, 1967.
