Room 36 | Japan from 1850 gallery
Explore the major technical and creative developments in arts and crafts of Japan after 1850 and visit the Ashmolean's tea house.
The art of Japanese cloisonné enamelling developed quickly during the Meiji era, when technological improvements were introduced from the West. Standards improved rapidly and cloisonné became a popular export item.
The brilliant cloisonné artist Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927) founded a hugely successful workshop in Kyoto and won countless medals at national and international exhibitions. The objects on display in this gallery show how he developed his techniques and styles over the years, from the relatively crude to the astonishingly sophisticated.
In traditional cloisonné, wires are attached to a metal body and coloured enamels are applied between the wires. Yasuyuki's great skill lay in the way he sculpted the wires into different shapes and widths, so that they became an important part of the picture in themselves.
Tobacco jar and stand with butterflies and flowers (EA1995.151)
Circular jarlet with flowers and butterflies (EA1993.39)
Baluster vase with wisteria and birds (EA1988.1)
Vase with chrysanthemums and a butterfly (EA2000.48)
Incense burner, or kōro, with an entrance gate amid trees (EA2000.180)
Vase with waterfall over rocks (EA2002.177)
Notice
Objects may have since been removed or replaced from a gallery. 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 contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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