Morning journal and courier., 1889-08-30
ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS.
The Art as 1t is Praesised in Japan From the London Times.l

The Art as 1t is Pracsised In Japan. From the London Timesl
 A new branch of Japanese art has made it's appearance on the western horizon and will probably soon be among us, and doubtless in lfull possession of our houses. It may be we'll, therefore, while there is yet time, to critically examine the invader and make up our minds as to the character of the recep- tion which should be accorded in the first in- stance; the ultimate result can scarcely be matter of doubt, although the degree of re- sistAnce may vary. That the subject Is one of some importance will readily be under stood when it is mentioned that the new art i is that of arranging fowers-new in this country, but old as the other arts in Japan. I The apostle of the new cult is Mir. Conder, | an architect in the service of the Japanese | government who has devoted some study to the subject, and who lately expeunded the theory and principles of Japanese flower ar- rangement before an audience of cultivated | foreigners in Tokio, the capital of Japan. He explained that the principles governing | Japanese floral compositions were totally diff ferent from those applied to flower arrange ments in Europe. In the latter the blossoms | alone receive attention, and are crowded to- \ gether in rich masses of color with little at- ! tention to individual form and total disre- | gard of the lines of stems, branches and of | the character of growth; in Japan, on the ! other hand the basis of all flower designs is | a series of harmonizing lines in which the l stems and branches play the most important ! part. This instructive perception of the beauty of harmonious lines is everywhere noticeable in the arts of Japan.
 The art of flower arrangement, like all other arts in Japan, has long history and ! has it's various schools. At first 1t appears | to have been mainly connected with Budd- hism then indigenous schools arose, instruc- ted by some men of more than usual origi- | nality and mental yigor. In fact its history | appears to have taken very much the same
 course as that of the pictorial arts with
 which Dr. Anderson has lately made the
 western art world familiar. The most popu- lar school of the present day is the Enshiu. According to the doctrines of this sect or
 school, ss enunciated by Mir. Conder, all
 flower arrangements were built about an i'm ! aginary skeleton formed of lines of balanced | curves. Symmetry, the most elementary kind of balance in composition, was es.
 chewed, but more subtle harmony was ob
 tained, far more in conformity with the prin
 ciples of beauty as discoverable in natural
 forms. Ths ordinary flower arrangements l were two, three, five or seven lined, and g
 somewhat different character was bestowed
 ! upon these lines according as they were ap
 | piled to standing or to hanging arrange
 msnts. Intimately connected with the
 character of flower compositions was the form of the vessels employed. of which , there were several kinds adapted for stand- ] ing, resting against the wall or a pillar, or suspending. Among these were certain GU ' rious vases made of bamboo cylinders witt several side openings intended for the ar- rangement of flowers in several stages. IT 2 these compositions, which contained severa kinds of plants or trees in combination, tht locality of growth and special character wer' ! never lost sight of, a distinction being al ways preserved between trees, land plants : and water plants. In selecting and arrang
 ing flowers the appropriate season, and, il ! sons, the peculiar character at the particula t l season were never lost sight of. Used il 3 ! combination, some held higher rank thai l l others, and with different varieties of tn . ! same species the eolors had certain order o | precedence. White blossoms as a rul l ranked first, but there were several exoep = tons to this rule. The idea of sex WAS ap f piled in several ways to the character o , leaves, stems and blossoms in combination g the leading idea of such distinctions bein
 1 to produce pleasing variety and to avoi . l redundancy. Many curious fancies existe ] ! with regard to the selection of trees an a plants. Those having poisonous propertie . l in stem, root or flower, and some suggestiv 3 of ominous associations, either on acooun l. of their names or owing to accidental tradi q tion, came under the bann of ill-luok ant Il were studiously avoided.
 Il A good deal of ceremonial was mixed ul l. with the practice of arranging mowers
 Flower gatherings were often held, at whicl d it was usual for the guests to make Howe
 competitions, in which case certain etiqgettt le was to be followed both by visitors ana o E. host. Special occasions, such as weddings y comings of age, house warmines, welcom
 farewell ana and A methods of designing. Harmony was re ,- ouired between the flower groups and tn F. wall fixtures in front of which they wer
 placed. This related both to harmony c ix lines and proportion as we'll as to harmon al of character. One must not clash with th ,e value, motive or effect of the other, and