The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-05-08
FEATURES OF THE WORLDS FAIR
ART POTTERY.

In the japanese Fine Arts Section at
the Wo-ld's Fair. beside a huge vase.
which is very beautiful in its way. you
viii see a tiny black flower vessel. deco
rated at its neck in family tinted and gold
flagree designs The big. the gorgeous
one, il terms Of cash. is worth about ES;
the little, the relatively inconspicuous one,
IS worth several thousand dollars.
\ Jap ard the Jap work should be
studied under the microscope The whole
Of him is not on the surface, though the
worst of him often is. And the cursory
or superficial glance at Japan at the Fair
will miss all that is best worth while
Japan is a wonderful country, as every
body observes when they try TO exhaust
the suhjecS in a sentence. a partial APP
probation of even 50 small q thing as the
little vase viii show that Japan is re-
markable. not wholly because Togo has
bottled up Port Arthur or sunk the Petro-
paylosk- or because Russia has been
hurled bach from the Yall
If you stop and study the vase all that
represents its value viii become apparent
1t is the loving labor of one japanese ar
tist. who devoted a years constant appli-
cation 10 the single six-inch
anu 1OtOug Ol a =. Jap % W
Frenchman or American. could duplicate
it. The outlines OF the design are not gilt
lines put in with the brush. nor are they
printed in by machine; they are in their
intricate entirety gold wires. thinner than
the thinnest thread. carefully curved into
the desired forms. SO infinitely small is
the scale that the nicely Of touch required
TO thus manipulate the strands Of gold is
staggering 10 comprehend.
The gold outlines having been thus pre-
pared upon the silver body OF the vase,
the artist laid in his coIors. choosing the
palest of Natures shades to indicate his
foliage or his bird plumage. Then was
lscquering comeback being the body
color used-and the nal polish put on.
The enameling has the pitchiness Of
agate while from it CLEANS the coloring
and muftitndinous strands Of gold
The art craftsman who produced this
little work labored himself over every
process. supplying both the fine design and
the vigilant care needed in burning in"
the enamel. He did not make many of the
kind al once for commercial consumption,
but he concentrated upon the single flower
vessel. That was his years work That
vas his purpose of living ard of working
And probably when he CLOSED UP seop" to
go to fight Russia. he put himself to war
fare with an equal devotion.
The vase. of course. Is OF the famous
cloisonne work In the misty past. the
beginnings of the cloisouRe art in Jaran
were imported from China. But its deyel-
opment has been purely japanese, and the
production Of The valued ware has been
followed in particular families. secrets
appertaining TO the manufacture being
handed down through generations This
"a true UP to the present day. The work Is
done by individually, who form a limited
circle unto themselves, and whose ca
pscity of production necessarily is limited.
NJ. ShuEio, the japanese Art Commits
ssoner, declares thatbxfaEthe major
portion of the so-calied cloisonne which
finds its way 70 the Western market Is
merely limitation, more OF ieS clever, Of
the genuine article. And certainly. when
you study the examples In the two cakes
devoted TO cloisonne IN the Jap Fine Arts
section, they show a workmanship far
finer than it has been ones pleasure TO
have seen before.
The number OF the articles exhibited Is
not too large to confuse. ana is enough
to supply variety. The cloissonne objects