The herald., 1897-04-11
THE kERAM|c ART OF JAPAN
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/, is impossible to overestimate the value
of these circumstances. for whether we
believe It or not, an acquaintance with
the beautiful is an education which
makes for greatness. The evanescent
i color Of the sky. the mist upon the noun
tain and the bloom in the open field In
I Southern California conspire to famil-
] iarize us with that which Is artistic
But we also have another great source
OF culture here. In the presence of Orien-
tai curio dealers, who display much that
is rare and beautiful. and to appreciate
which is an education all by itself. The
wonderful harmony of shape and color
in good samples of Oriental pottery IL
a revelation which grows upon US. and
transforms all pur preconceived ideas OF
the Keramic art.
Sevres, Deft and Dresden are beau
tiful wares, but real old Satsuma is glo-
rious. 1t is the Partisan alone among
western people who comes nearest to
realizing that there Is a law OF form
and color which has moods and lenses
and reflections. but It Is the Californian
who has at all times the object lesson
before his eyes by which he becomes sat
urated, so to speak. with art. 1t cannot
be denied that the Japanese potter, who
gees the glitter of foreign gold, and VINO
realizes that he. has foreign taste TO
satisfy, has often adapted his work to
our decorative requirements, and In so
doing he has produced carloads and
shiploads of so-called things Japan
ese" which are monstrosities In form
and color He has really been driven
to do so for merchants, especially east
ern merchants, have often gone so far
as to dictate to the Oriental workman
what style they think will prove fash-
ionable the coming season.
Mr.. Hearn goes so far as to say that
it is safe to predict that every ugly
thing made in Japan has been made
under foreign dictation. Such things do
not represent legitimate art, and 1t Is not
to such things that refer.
met a lady in Kansas City. last sum
mer. who boasted that she had picked
up a great many pieces of fine old sat
suma while in California. some OK which
are as large as half-bushels. OF course
that lady had no conception of what
real old Satsuma is, nor any idea OF
Its value. It is too we'll appreciated here
to admit being picked up" and we have
too many curio dealers who are Ito the
manner born" to permit it to be sold for
a song. Old Satsuma is always worth It's
weight in gold, even in japan. lts
snecial marks are the soft, creamy color.
which has a resemblance to ivory, ana
it's faultless capacity to receive Color
1t is also very hard.
A small vase four or five inches high
1. often worth $500. and not so much edu-
cation is required to select 1t as one
might suppose, for as voice OF Jenny
Lind is appreciated from pit to dome,
so does it command the admiration OF
all who see it. No faience produced in
any country can dispute the palm for
moment with real good specimens Of old
Satsuma.
Its primary ingredients are clay and
mari, which are crushed, sifted, STEPPED
in water and strained through many fine
silk selves, until 1t is reduced to won
derfully fine paste. After it has acquired
a certain smoothness 1t is put on
table and beaten three thousand times
with a wooden mallet and then her
metically sealed and put away for nifty
DAYS, when 1t is beaten again for twelve
hours, then again diluted with water
and passed through ten silk sieves. This
process is repeated until a time when II
is sufficiently fine to suit the most ex-
quisite eye; then the>operator places a
little ball Of paste on the lathe and sets
It in motion.
Mr.. Longfellow in his beautiful poem
called "Keramos" seems to have had
oriental pottery in mind.
Turn, turn my wheel,
Turn round and round;
Without a pause,
Without a sound.
"The snow on Fusyama's cone,
The midnight heaven so thickly sown
With consultations of bright stars,
The leaves that rustic, reeds that make
make
A whisper by each stream and lake.
1.-THE saffron dawn, the sunset red,
Are painted on these lovely jars.
The stork, the heron and the crane
Float through the azure overhead,
The counterfeit and counterpart
Of nature reproduced in art"
All these emblems convey to the ORR
entail mind, however, much more than
they do to us, for they are inseparably
connected with their mythology. The
stork is always good luck" symbol,
and the twelve signs of their zodiac ar
each represented by animals, generally
in pairs, the male and the female. 1t is
worthy of note that the methods chosen
by the japanese keramists are still pure
ly Chinese, and that although they have
developed much new knowledge within
the last twenty-five years, they still at
the close of this nineteenth century re-
gard China as unsurpassed and inacces-
sible in the art of pottery making.
The history of some particular brands
can be traced for thousands of years,
where the mandarins have taken care to
perpetuate the art in certain families,
Withholding from outside parties all in
formation concerning it. OF the differ
ent kinds Of pottery made in Japan, only
three or four are very highly priced. The
greatest are Ninsei, Kenzan and Sat-
suma. 1 have not mentioned Cloisonne
because it cannot be classed with kera-
mics. Yet the enamels used in its pro
duction are much the same as those used
by the potters, and sometimes it Is said
| that Cloisonne glaze is used on an
earthen body, although strictly speak
| ing it should be applied to metal foun-
] dation (generally copper). Upon this
body is soldered the pattern, composed
| of fine gold or silver wire, and into the
| little molds so formed the enamel is
worked In fine pieces there is minute
| ness of design and harmony Of color al
| most rivaling the down on a butterfly's
wing. great pity it is that so much
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