EXOTIC JAPAN

Copyright © 1999 by David H. Fox.  All Rights Reserved

Beginning in the 1860s, the art of Japan had a considerable influence on that of Europe.  This may be clearly seen in a great range of areas: from paintings of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and the domestic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) to Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 production of "The Mikado."  All of this was due to Japan's sudden emergence from over two hundred years of self-imposed isolation. .        Toshio Watanabe, High Victorian Japonisme (Bern: Peter Lang Publishers, Inc., 1991), 55-211.

The first visit of Europeans to Japan appears to have been quite unintentional, and is thought to have occurred in 1542 or 1543 when a Chinese vessel floundered.  In subsequent years, the ubiquitous Portuguese traders began to make their rounds.  These were followed in 1549 by the Jesuits, who experienced considerable success in converting the country to Christianity.  In 1584, a group of young Japanese Christians were shown about Europe.  A number of presentation gifts were brought from Japan for this tour, including the gorgeous painted folding screens of gilt paper which were then at the acme of their artistry.  

The increasing influence of Christianity and the threat of colonialization created fears for the stability of the Japanese feudal structure.  A campaign to suppress Christianity was begun in 1597 with the last Japanese Christian priest being crucified in 1642.  Japanese were forbidden to leave or return to their country from abroad by a 1635 edict.  There followed a series of expulsions of foreigners, the Shogun's edict of 1638 stating: "So long as the Sun shall warm the earth, let no Christian dare to come to Japan." .        James Fallows, "After Centuries of Japanese Isolation, a Fateful Meeting of East and West," Smithsonian (Jul. 1994):23.  By 1639, the tolerant Dutch were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan, but even they were strictly confined to a enclave near Nagasaki, far from the major urban centers.  During the Dutch monopoly, lacquerwares were major export.

Seeking ports for the resupplying of vessels and safety for shipwrecked whalers, the American naval commander, Matthew Perry, intimidated the Japanese into accepting foreign contacts in 1853.  By 1858, commercial treaties had been established with the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, Britain and France.  With the establishment of wholesale bazaars in the major port cities of Japan, better quality goods began to be exported to Europe.

The increased availability of Japanese goods was apparent at the 1862 International Exhibition in London where they were afforded their own section of the display by the European organizers.  The government of Japan organized its own display at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris with objects of very high artistry being exhibited.

Americans were afforded an initial major exposure to things Japanese at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The Government of Japan provided a lavish display in the Main Building, as well as the erection of two buildings in traditional style.  This required an expenditure of over $600,000--- nearly three times the amount typically spent by European nations on their exhibits. .        Frank Leslie, Historical Register of the United States Centennial Exposition, 1876 (New York: Frank Leslie's Publishing House, 1877), 249.  The impression made by the Japanese exhibit was so great, that within but five years, one American book on interior design could state:

It is impossible to dismiss the subject of Japanese art, so rich an element of decoration in modern homes, without mention of their stuffs.  Of these one may turn over almost as delightful variety as in Kyoto itself, on the counters of several shops in New York, some of them in charge of natives of Japan, speaking English perfectly, and distinguished by singular intelligence and courtesy. .        Constance Cary Harrison, Woman's Handiwork in Modern Homes (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1882), 184.

The nineteenth century interest in Japanese art was due in part to the convergence of several movements that tended to glorify the values of medieval art.  The Arts and Crafts movement promoted items crafted by hand as a reaction against the Industrial Revolution and modern technology which were viewed as being de-humanizing.  The Middle Ages were seen as an ideal setting where artisans worked in villages devoted to craft, as opposed to factories.  The fact the Japanese art was still produced in this seemingly medieval manner greatly interested the architects of the Gothic Revival.  European painters of the period found Japanese art a revelation in its pictorial composition and use of the "close-up."

G. A. Audsley stated that his first interest in Japanese art was aroused by the 1867 exhibition in Paris.  He evidently began collecting ceramics, a number of which were visible in a monochrome photograph of the music room in the Chiswick residence he occupied in the 1880s.  The room itself was adorned with large oriental-style murals or wall covering with depictions of birds and flowers on a reflective (gold?) background.  Audsley apparently felt no incongruity in erecting a Gothic style organ case in this room.

In 1874, a paper entitled "Notes of Japanese Art" was presented the Architectural Association of London.  In it, Audsley made reference to a forthcoming trip: "My visit to Japan will...put me in a position to tell you something about the native architecture and modes, adopted for its decoration." .        H. B. Newman, G. A. Audsley: Biography and Bibliography, (1993),10.  As Audsley appears to have made no further mention of this trip in subsequent writings on Japan, one is inclined to suppose that it was cancelled.

Audsley was a non-resident member of Asiatic Society of Japan for ten years with a first listing in the 1875-1876 annual report.  The journal published by this group dealt with all aspects of life in the Orient, including natural history.  Despite his frequent writings, Audsley made no contributions to this publication.  James Lord Bowes joined the year after Audsley.  Bowes had a directory listing as "Japanese Consul and wool broker" and was a client of Audsley. .        Gore's Liverpool Directory (1896).  Streatlam Tower, Bowes's Liverpool residence on Prince's Road, was designed by the Audsleys, who were also engaged to ornament the case of his residence pipe organ. .        George A. & Berthold Audsley, The Art of Polychromatic and Decorative Turning, (Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1916), 7.  Bowes and Audsley shared memberships in the Liverpool Art Society.  In 1875, G. A. Audsley and Bowes published the Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese Lacquer of Bowes Collection. This was partially reprinted in the 20 August 1875 issue of The Building News.  The art collection amassed by Bowes eventually was exhibited in its own museum.

In cooperation with Bowes, Audsley produced a lavishly illustrated two-volume folio work in 1875 entitled The Keramic Art of Japan.  [Modern usage would replace the "k" with "c".]  The work was published for subscribers by the authors through Henry Sotheran & Co. of London and printed by David Mardles of Lord Street, Liverpool.  A  dedication to the Duke of Edinburgh, a collector of some of the items illustrated in the book, prefaces the edition.

From the scholarly standpoint, this two volume work was notable in its field for being the first attempt in the West to categorize Japanese ceramics.  The first volume gave examples of Japanese repetitive, plant, and animal ornaments and their symbolism with a short history of the ceramic production in Hizen, Satsuma, Ise, Kaga, and Kyoto provinces.  The second volume contained illustrations of various ceramic objects.  Most of the items pictured belonged to Bowes, though five were collected by G. A. Audsley and two by W. J. Audsley.

While the work was attractively printed with black and red inks on heavy paper which has not yellowed with the passage of a century, it was the forty color plates whose creation was supervised by M. Racinet of M. m. Firmin-Didot et Cie, Paris, France, which contributed most to the sensation created by this publication:

If perfection in art-reproduction can be found concentrated in one work, that work is Messrs. Audsley and Bowes "Keramic Art of Japan." .        "Keramic Art of Japan," The Building News (20 Oct. 1876).

If it does not exceed, [it] will at least not be surpassed for beauty by an English book hitherto published. .        "Keramic Art of Japan," The Architect (8 May 1875):275.

The preface of the work explained the authors' intentions in regard to the illustrations:

As we believe that the illustrations are, in all matters of this kind, much more useful and interesting than any written descriptions, we have endeavored, by utilising all the important printing processes of the day, to place in the hands of our subscribers a more accurate and elaborate series of illustrations than has ever appeared in connection with the subject.  To obtain truthfulness, photography has been largely pressed into service, and we may point to the majority of the plates of the Introductory Essay, which has been produced through the agency of photographic process direct from the objects there represented, whilst the others are photo-lithographs from drawings traced from Japanese works.  In all the coloured plates photography has been employed to furnish the reductions from which the chromo-lithographic artists have elaborated their masterly drawings.

The modern reader, being used to color photography, may not be so astonished by the quality of the illustrations as persons of an earlier era.  In general, the colors seem a bit dead or muddy with a lack of strong whites.  Nonetheless, one easily detects great subtlety in the color gradations and the accurate perspective of the objects.  This must be compared to the then common practice of printing illustrations in black ink and having them afterwards crudely handpainted with watercolors.

So great was the interest in the production of these illustrations that G. A. Audsley was pressed by the subscribers to published the Art of Chromolithography (London: Simpson Low, Maston, Searle & Rivington, 1883).  This volume was of similar format to The Keramic Arts of Japan.  The twenty-four pages of text gave a history of lithography and a detailed explanation of the process.  There followed forty-four plates showing the method by which the color image of a Japanese lacquer box was built-up by the impressions of twenty-two stones.  The impression of each stone is shown along with cumulative effect.

The method was described as beginning with a photograph or watercolor of the object to be illustrated.  A rather curious means of mechanically reducing drawings was utilized: the image was transferred to a stretched sheet of rubber which was then relaxed.

The boundary of the area of each color was transferred to a sheet of gelatin by scratching.  The outlines were filled with ink which was transferred to the surface of a fine-grain limestone block.  Alternately, ink might be applied directly to a photograph and then on to the stone.  The area for a particular color was then filled in with what was described as a "fatty ink."  The stone was wetted and an oil based printing ink applied.  As "oil and water do not mix," the printing ink would adhere only to the areas previous treated with the fatty ink.  Paper was then applied to stone to complete the printing process.

The printing inks used were semitransparent so that great delicacy of coloration was achieved when the inks were applied one over another.  Great care was required that the numerous printing stones were exactly aligned.  Otherwise, the final image would have a blurry or out of focus appearance.  Metallic gold and silver colors were produced by printing the page with an adhesive and then dusting the surface with powder.  This was done prior to any other printing to eliminate the danger of the powder adhering to the color inks.

The success of The Keramic Arts of Japan prompted Audsley to publish the  Ornamental Arts of Japan in 1882.  This two volume folio edition was also dedicated to the Duke of Edinburgh.  The 105 pages include sections on drawing, painting, engraving, metal work, textiles, and encrusted work, and give a history of each art form.  Unlike the earlier work, most of the illustrations here were monochrome.  Some of the color plates showing textiles were quite remarkable for their representation of textured surfaces.

In 1913, Audsley published a final work on the subject entitled,  Gems of Japanese Art and Handicraft.  The style of this work was rather similar to that of the two previous efforts.

A work greatly influenced by Japanese art was G. A. Audsley's Artistic and Decorative Stencilling which appeared in 1911.  This eighty page book provided extensive information on the history and practice of this craft with frequent reference to textile stencilling in Japan.  The designs provided, however, were entirely western with many being of a medieval style.