Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-03

showing us a wonderful specimen Of gold lac
quer design in cherry blossoms and trees, with
a river and houses in the distance, sis $500 and
it has been eight months in hand. II had
made it rs they made the old lacquer it would
cost 5000, but there would be no market
for it."
IT'S ANTIQUITY.
As regards the antiquity Of the lacquer in
dustry japanese chronicles give the name of
the person who was "chief of the imperial
lacquer department under the Emperor Ko-an,
in the year b. c. 392. In the seventh century
A.D lacquered articles were received in lieu of
| taxes and afterward, 50 great was the value
set upon lacquer for the emperors own use,
that the making of it except in the imperial
lacquer department. was prohibited. in the
eighth century, as enough lacquer could TO
longer be procured from the wild trees. every
farmer was compelled, first, to plant from
forty to eighty lacquer trees, and sec
ond, to pay his taxes in lacquer. Now
lacquer-trees grow everywhere, as they are
very hardy. The Oldest piece of lacquer-work
extant ia box which held the scarf Of BuGd-
hist priest who lived in AID. $40. II seems
highly probable that if working in iacquer-I
mean work of the straightforward and cheap
kind-was understood and could be practised in
other countries it would be found applicable to
an infinite number of useful purposes. For ex-
ample. experiments are making in Yokohama
at this moment to determine whether coating
OF lacquer will not prove perfect covering for
a ships bottom.
THE ACTUAL MANUAL SKILL
OF the Japanese artificer seems remarkable to
u.s. but it does not strike his fellow-countrymen
IS being much out Of the common And in
deed the traveller in Japan soon learns to
transfer his wonder from the individual to the
nation. This extraordinary people who pull the
saw or tine plane toward them instead of
pushing it away, who make the threads Of
their screws run the. other way from ours,
who slt down in The presence of o superior as o
remark Of respect. who blew their noses upon
paper and wrap their parcels in pocket-handker-
chiefs, are born with manual dc xterity that il
simply astonishing. This is true of everybody,
NEIL and women. low and high alike Your jinri-
kisha coOlie will tie knots, repair his vehicle or
lend hand in anything you are doing. with
the knGck of a man-of-war's man and the
delicacy OF u dentist: the cook at the house
where am staying will knock off charming
little sketches for the children by the hour;
and any little job that requires intelli-
genco and manual skill almost any Japanese
ample. if you happen to be suffering from that
troublesome and painful infiction. boil, your
Japanese servant will take 4 hair. pass it by
some magic known only to himself round the
inside OF the sore, and with only q twinge TO
yourself remove the whole of the diseased
flesh.
JAPANESE IDEA OF HUsloR.
What the ordinary japanese most enjoys in
his works of art is the quaint or comic telling of
a story or depicting of humorous incident.
me carving Of the man carefully lifting the
box which he has put down over q rat, and
waiting with uplifted club to smash it as
/. comes out. while the rat, having eaten
away corner. has escaped up his sleeve
and is sitting on his back watching the
process over his shouider-that is the spirit
which appeals to their fancy. l have taken
great many photographs in Japan of all
sorts OF people, instantaneous street views.
studies Of dancers and portraits of qeisha and
although some of them seemed to me rather
interesting, my Japanese friends did not care
Tor them 1T all. But one day l took picture Of
very pretty girl with her arm round large
carved wooden Ddruma-an efigy of the saint
who squassed in such prolonged Inward con-
temptation of the nature Of things that his legs
rottcd oif-and looking teasngly into his face
with an appealing look. while his fixed
gaze over her head seems to be an
appeal for help against the temptress And
over this picture at last my friends were
enthusiastic. That is excellent they said,
lit Is dehghtful-i is Japanesy." Actually the
fame OF this photograph reached the reporters
and paragraph appeared in tine ne wspapcrs.
congratuiating me upon it, and giving the name
OF the owner Of the Daru'na-a very sedate
person-who was by no means grateful for
notoriety OF that particular kind. ....
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREIGNERS.
AS soon as the treaty-rcyision question is set
tied. and it is easy for Japanese and foreigners
to work in partnership. there will be an ex-
tremeiy interesting and profitable opportu-
NIFTY for the proper organization of these
artItcers and the development and drec-
ton OF this national dexterity. At pres
e emit they produce very little in amount, that
little is snapped up eagerly by those on the
spot. the producers remain poor and their
Ideas are the same from generation to genera.
ton. But in such fields az wood-carviny for
house decoration. the making of fine furni-
turc with decorative carving. the casting and
chlsc.ing Of copper and silver and gold arti-
Giles for the table, the weaving Of splendid
Drocadcs for hangings and curtains. the making
OF exquisite porcelain articles for table service
IN all these and many other directions there
TO supply the western world with beautiful
and useful objects, to her own profit and their
education and delight. To get anything of
this sort made now it is necessary first Of all
TO md out a man who can make it
no easy task. for the individual artifcers are
known only to very small circle; then
you have to teach him exactly what it is
you want; and finally you have to wait
months and months before you can get
It, saw a silver teapot the other
day, beautifully chiselled and beaten out of
very heavy silver after an old Chinese design
amastcrpiece of the slversmith's art But when
L expressed u wish to give an order for a some
what similar article was told that it would be
between eighteen months and two years before it
would be finished. If the chief artificers of
these arts could be brought into one or
sanizasion. directed by competent foreigner.
taught Western needs and preferences, and
yet left absolutely free to follow out
their own artistic inspirations, both Japan
and the world would be the gamers. The
Eastern market for furniture alone is so ex-
tensive a:id profitable that large and prosper
GUS firm hes grown up in Shanghai. employing
Chinese worimen. Yet this is one of the things
that the Japanese would do infinitel; better.
The great danger, of course, in such a scheme.
will be that the genius of the Japanese artificer
may no. be able to resist the degrading in |
fluences of even distant approach to the fac
tory system. 1t will be an interesting problem
to watch. HENRY NoRMAy
BOOKS OF THE WEEK.