The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-30

streets friends their first opportunity
to inspect his exquisite collection
which he brought with him from his
last trip and which has never. been
unpacked until this week. 1t repre-
sents thousands Of miles of travel to
the out-of-the-way corners of Japan
and includes wood and metal carvings,
bronzes and brasses, lacquers and
prints enough to absorb the attention
of the connoisseur for hours. For eN-
ample, one little bit is the fan once
carried by Shingen, which is doubly
valuable from the fact that Shingen
lived 800 years ago. Another one of
the features of the collection is pair
of the long, cylindrical lanterns made
to be carried in ceremonial process
sions of Daimios. These are most
ooSerE And the the
ing stats and the silky plumes being
in perfect state of preservation.
However, the strongest individuality
and the greatest attraction of the col
lection lies in the bronzes. There are
some fifty or sixty large pieces, any
one of which might represent the
large part of some Japanese artists
life work. Some of these are mas
sive but display. as do all, the utmost
delicacy Of detail, modelling and gen.
eral outline. They breathe the very
air of a country in which art was an
every day IDEAL
1t is difficult to classify some Of
these pieces according to the ordinary
catalogue Of the American household.
Some pieces are possibly brazters,
some strongly suggest their intended
use as receptacles for flowers, and
some are so massive and capac1ous
that the original idea as to their use
can only be guessed. Nevertheless,
each one is executed with the idea OF
making something beautiful and every
piece is susceptible of adaptation to
the artistic scheme Of some American
home.
The wood carvings receive their
share Of attention from the admirers
of the collection, there being some
beautifully executed pieces of great
relief from a temple on the Island or
Avail. These are hundreds OF years
old, but they display none of the crud-
tiles either in design or execution tnat
one might expect in work of such a re-
| mote period. In most of the wood
good luck, the sacred dog, and the
cock, play an important part
| AS the new institution now stands,
| its great feature is the Crafts house
which is some SO feet north Of the de-
lightfully remodeled old residence.
| The new structure is 28x5b IeeI, IN
ground dimensions. Between and
connecting the two buildings is a
room some fifty feet in length by forty
| in width, which serves the purpose OF
a general display room. The interior
| of the Crafts house is one large room,
with the ceiling extending clear to the
rafters of the steep gable roof. Arts
/ tic beams produce a. medieval effect,
while a series Of ten beautiful frescoes
/ in large panels runs around the upper
portion Of the walls. These frescoes
are in low tones and represent upon a
large scale some familiar scenes in
Japan. Light is supplied wholly from a
series Of sky lights set in the roof and
entire wall space is thus made availa-
BILE for fresco or for the display of
| prints and hangings. In this most ar
| tistic setting Mr. Bradstreet has ar
ranged his newest collection, which
reflects probably more credit upon him
! than any of his preceding work along
/ that line.
It is Mr.. Bradstreet's idea to utilize
/ the Crafts house for the exhibition OF
any notable collections which may
become available, aItho these are not
1 necessarily to be Japanese. In addi-
i ton to this house and the Offices and
display rooms, the plant Il supple-
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