Posts Tagged ‘international exhibitions’

The Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930x, which derived ‘its name from the 1925 Paris Exhibition – the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industrials Modernes – was the first truly modern style of the 20th century. .In their subject-matter, style, and bright colours, Art Deco furniture, jewellery, ceramics, cs, posters, sculpture, and other decorative arts reflected the general atmosphere of optimism that prevailed after the devastation of World War I. The increased liberation of women, the rise of jazz music and Hollywood film-making, the preoccupation with speed, travel, and leisure pursuits, and the growth of commercial competition and advertising all had a strong Influence on Art Deco designers. Until the late 1970s Art Deco pieces attracted little interest among dealers and collectors, but since that time, with numerous exhibitions and Publications on the subject, the popularity  of collecting Art Deco has increased enormously.

Like the Paris Exhibition of 1900 –which had been the showcase for the Art Nouveau style – the 192-5 Exhibition aimed to promote France as the pre-eminent centre for the production of luxury goods. Most European countries, except for or Germany, were involved; the USA declined to take part, deciding that it could not meet the entry requirements for examples of work of “new and original inspiration” stipulated by the organizers. The exhibition was therefore dominated by pavilions displaying the work of leading French designers, such as the
furniture designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann (1879-1933) and the glassmaker Rene Laliquc ( 1860-1945). The design studios of the major Parisian department stores, such as Primavera at Printemps, La Maitrise at Galeries Lafayette,  and Pomona at Au Bon Marche, displayed complete interiors, with examples of furniture, household wares, textiles, and carpets in matching styles.
Most of the exhibits reflected the “official taste” of the exhibition; forms were adapted from historical or traditional styles, but with lavish ornament of stylized flowers, figures, and animals, and geometric patterns such as zigzags and chevrons. This was particularly evident in Ruhlmann’s Pavilion d’un Collectioneur, with its chairs influenced by 18th-century design, boldly  patterned wall coverings, and elaborate chandeliers, and also in the design by Andre Groult for an ambassadorial boudoir with shagreen-covered furniture.
This style contrasted strongly with the few displays by Modernist designers. The Pavilion de I’Esprit Nouveau was designed by the avant-garde Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and exemplified his vision of a new, minimalist architecture and lifestyle. His small two-storey house, with its doors, windows, and other structural elements based on a modular system of standard-sized units, contained mass-produced furniture and was decorated with abstract paintings. Although this style made a strong impact, its influence did not become widespread until the 19 30x, when it was represented at the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris and also at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

THE 1925 PARIS EXHIBITION
The Art Deco style, although mainly associated with the 1920s and 1930s, did not suddenly emerge fully formed in this period. Rich ornament, exotic materials, and emphasis on comfort – all features of the style – were already evident in the decorative arts, especially in French furniture, before and during World War I. However, the development of the Art Deco style is mainly associated with the 1925 exhibition in Paris, which lasted from April to October. This exhibition was originally planned for 1915, Lis a continuation of the French government-sponsored international exhibitions that were held in Paris from the 19th century, but was postponed because of the war.
MOTIFS, INFLUENCES, AND
NEW MATERIALS
The standard motifs of the Art Deco style included such traditional decorative elements as bouquets of flowers, animals, and figures of young maidens. However, these were always stylized and angular rather than naturalistic and were often combined with purely geometric motifs, including chevrons, zigzags, Sunbursts, and lightning bolts. This emphasis on stylization and abstract and repeated forms was influenced by the growing impact of the machine, especially automobiles, trains, and aeroplanes, and by such abstract art movements of the early 20th century as Cubism and Futurism. The taste for bright colours was also inspired by the vibrant Fauvist paintings of Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Maurice Vlaminck, which used contrasting tones and non-naturalistic colours.
Such movements were in turn influenced by the stylized, abstract forms of African masks and sculpture, which were widely collected and imported into Europe in large quantities at this time. Certain elements of Art Deco decorative arts, such as ceramic wall masks, show the inspiration of African art, while African figures featured as decoration on the ceramics of such potters as Rene Buthaud (1886-1987). Also around this time, black American culture in the form of jazz music was introduced into Europe from the USA; the jazz-inspired Revue Negre in Paris, featuring the black dancer and actress Josephine Baker, influenced the work of Buthaud and other Art Deco designers.
The taste for Oriental art was encouraged between 1911 and 1920 by the exotic stage and costume designs of Leon Bakst ( 1866-1924) for the Ballets Russes. These had a significant influence on the Art Deco style, and sparked a fashion for Oriental black-and-red colour combinations as well as lacquered furniture, metalwork, and objets d’art. One of the best exponents of the style was the Swiss designer Jean Dunand (1877-1942). Leading sculptors in France, such as Dimitri Chiparus 1880-1950), also produced figures of dancers in exotic costumes.

THE MODERN MOVEMENT
An alternative to the luxury Art Deco style developed mainly outside France, especially in Germany, during and after World War 1. Progressive artists, architects, and designers argued that the new era demanded good-quality, functional design for all; that new technology and machine production should be exploited fully;  and that form must be derived from function, Without unnecessary ornament.
This movement began in 1907 with the Deutscher Werkbund, an alliance of designers and industrialists. In 1919 the Bauhaus was founded in Weimar by the German architect and designer Walter Gropius (1883-1969); in 1925 the school moved to Dessau, and it was closed by the Nazis in 1933. Bauhaus members designed high-quality furniture, lighting, metalwork, and textiles for industrial production, using new materials, including plywood and tubular steel. Many designs, such as the tubular steel furniture by Marcel Breuer (1902-81) and the glass and metal lamps by Marianne Brandt (1893-1983), are still widely produced. Other Modernist designers of the period included Le Corbusier in France, Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) in Finland, and Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) in the Netherlands.
Both the decorative and the Modern strands of Art Deco had a strong influence in the USA, where the style’s vibrant colours and rhythmic patterns expressed the optimism of a young
country that was also the world leader in the mass production of consumer goods. Designers including Paul T. Frankl ( 1886-19,58) and Donald Deskey (1894-1989) used materials also favoured by European Modernists, such as chrome-plated tubular steel. In the 1930s designers such as Norman Bel Geddes (18931958) and Walter Derwin Teague (1883-1960) began to develop their own distinctive version of Art Deco, known as “streamlining”.

Art Deco designers used an extremely wide range of  materials. Luxury manufacturers, including Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Paul Follot (1877-1941), and the cabinet-makers Louis Sue (1875-1968) and Andre Mare (1887-1932), specialized in fine-quality pieces veneered in exotic woods such as amboyna and Macassar ebony, combined with ivory, shagreen, enamel, gold and silver leaf, and lacquer. Modernist and industrial designers, especially in the USA, showed greater interest in new materials such as aluminium, chromium, and tubular steel. Lavish cinema interiors were created relatively inexpensively from combinations of chromium, coloured glass, and painted concrete. Bakelite, a type of cheap, easily moulded plastic patented in 1907, was widely employed as a substitute for wood in such mass-produced items as radios.

Sevres
In the 19th century Sevres remained the pre-eminent porcelain factory in France both in quality and in innovation. Receiving state subsidies and patronage, it employed many eminent chemists, who developed new pastes, glazes, and decorative techniques, which kept the factory in the forefront of fashion. However, during this period there was an increasing divide between domestic or utilitarian wares and the very elaborate ornamental pieces, such as vases and large services, made for the State, for international exhibitions, and as diplomatic gifts.
A Plate from the Service des P6ches painted by L. Garneray This plate illustrates how the Sevres painters continued the late 18th-century tradition of using porcelain primarily as a medium for painting However, the motifs are no longer strictly Classical as they would have been during the 18th century Such an elaborate piece as this would have been used only for display in a cabinet.
(1840, diam. 24.5cm19lin; value J)
THE RESTORATION PERIOD
After France’s monarchy was restored in 1815, the country enjoyed a period of relative prosperity and stability until the 1840s. The Sevres factory continued to produce wares in the Empire style in the 1820s and 1830x, and continued the fashion of treating porcelain as a medium for painting; restrained Neo-classical forms were decorated all over, with little or none of the porcelain left showing. The royal family commissioned large display services, each piece painted with a scene surrounded by gilt borders with motifs such as acanthus, eagles, and trophies. However, portraits of the imperial family, and scenes commemorating the battles and deeds of the Emperor, were replaced by views of France, birds, or scenes of various crafts and trades. The finest examples of this style are the table or breakfast services illustrating industries, agriculture, and history for the palace of Fontainebleau.
The mixture of Classical, Egyptian, and chinoiserie motifs already evident in porcelain decoration before 1830 became more apparent and more complex with the introduction of Gothic and Renaissance Revival shapes
and motifs, such as grotesques and miniature
pinnacles and (rockets. Vases were painte
in imitation of 16th-century Limoges enamels with grotesques, flower swags, mythological scenes, and
scrollwork in grey on blue; this
was so successful that a specialis
enamelling workshop was set up
which operated between 1845
and 1872. Table services made
in the 1830s and 1840s for the
Duke of Orleans and the Duke
of Nemours, based on 18th-
century Rococo designs by Jean- Claude Duplessis (1690-1774), marked the revival of Rococo. From the 1840s the fashion for
treating porcelain as a canvas for painting declined. Areas of white porcelain again
became visible, particularly on everyday services. For example, the large services made for the royal residences (including those for staff use) tended to be simply ornamented, with a gilt or blue royal monogram in the centre and gold-leaf borders around the rims. This decoration was printed rather than painted, since from (.1845 the lithographic process was in use at Sevres, allowing printing in several colours.
THE SECOND REPUBLIC AND SECOND EMPIRE During the Second Republic (1848-52) Sevres suffered financial problems because there was little demand for luxury goods. Production increased again during the Second Empire ( 1852-70), when much of the factory’s output was intended either for the residences of Emperor Napoleon III, and as diplomatic gifts, or for display in the many international exhibitions. Plain domestic wares were also made in large quantities.
During the directorship of the chemist Victor Regnauld during the Second Empire there were several important developments in manufacturing and decoration. The production of soft paste was revived, although mainly at an experimental level, and slip-casting was introduced, meaning that very thin or large hollow pieces could be made. In the 1850s the chemist Alphonse-Louis Salvetat created a flambe glaze imitating Chinese porcelain, which was perfected in the 1880s; underglaze brown colours and coloured pastes imitating marble and hardstones were also introduced. One of the most popular techniques created during the 1850s was pate-sur pate: a process of building up a design in low relief on a tinted ground by applying layer upon laver of white slip and carving the details before firing.
From 1852 the Rococo Revival was the most popular style. The 18th-century forms were reproduced for tablewares and vases, but the gilding and decoration of scrolls, shells, figures, and flowers is more crowded and exaggerated than on original 18th-century pieces. The factory revived landscape panels with figures in the manner of the Rococo artists Watteau and Boucher, as well as coloured grounds, particularly turquoise and pink. Factories in Germany and France that had bought the white wares earlier sold off by Sevres to alleviate its financial problems copied this style in the late 19th century; these copies are usually described by dealers and auctioneers as “Sevres”, too, or as “Sevres-style”.
There was also a revival of the Pompeian and Classical Greek styles between 1845 and 1855, evident in the use of motifs and designs based on engravings of the antiquities of Pompeii. However, the shapes are not always Classical in inspiration, and the colours and decorative techniques, such as painting in matt colours on biscuit porcelain to imitate Classical vases, are different from those used in the 18th-century Neoclassical period. The factory was able to keep up with fashion because it had retained the moulds of Neoclassical wares produced in the late 18th century under Louis XVI. This also led to a limited revival of biscuit porcelain figures c.1860.
THE LATE 19TH CENTURY
After the establishment of France’s Third Republic in 1871 the factory continued largely to produce ornamental pieces for embassies, ministries, and government buildings, as well as simpler pieces as prizes for lotteries and public competitions.
In 1877 the sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse 1824-87) was appointed director. He introduced Japanese-inspired designs that contrasted strongly with the overdecorated pieces in a confused mixture of historical styles. The factory also developed a new paste in the 1880s, which was fired at the lower temperature. This made possible an increased range of colours and the perfection of the flambe glazes imitating Oriental porcelain. These wares were particularly fashionable in the 1880s, when there was a vogue for Japanese art.
SEVRES COPIES
Many thousands of imitations of the 18th-century Sevres style were produced by French and other European manufacturers in the 19th century. After the Revolution huge numbers of blank Sevres wares were sold off to decorators. Later decorated pieces tend to have poorer-quality decoration and gilding and, if a piece has been refired, there is usually black speckling on the base.
he Restoration period
• BODY fine, white hard paste with a clear, glassy glaze; some items made in soft paste and coloured pastes imitating marble and hardstones
• STYLE continuation of Empire style, with introduction of Rococo, Gothic, and Renaissance elements
• FIGURES biscuit portraits and busts in the 18th-century Neo-classical style
Marks
This mark was used from 1834 to 1848; the letters “LP’ stand for “Louis-Philippe”, who succeeded to the French throne in 1830
The Second Republic and Second Empire
• STYLE Rococo Revival, often combined with Gothic and Renaissance motifs
• DECORATION painting of landscapes in the style of Watteau and Boucher, or large flowers, with gilding, coloured grounds, and scrollwork; pate-sur-pate
• FIGURES small classically inspired biscuit figures revived c.1860
The late 19th century
• STYLE continuation of mid-19th-century styles; Japanesque
• DECORATION plain grounds and glazes in pure colours for Japanese-style wares; Art Nouveau stylized flower motifs in pastel shades

Meissen
The attempts by Count Marcolini, director of Meissen from 1774, to improve the quality of Meissen porcelain were not entirely successful, and at the beginning of the 19th century the factory was still in decline. There were several reasons for this: competition from other porcelain factories in Europe, mass production, and the effects of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). When Marcolini retired in 18 14, production was at a level j t high enough to keep the factory open.
Until the mid-19th century mass production grew steadily, thus reducing costs and meeting demand. From the 1820s the factory kept pace with new developments by using “round” kilns that led to a fourfold increase in production, and introducing new techniques and products. In the late 1820s gloss-gilding was introduced; this inexpensive method of decoration used gold mixed in a solution, which was applied to the porcelain. The time-consuming method of hand-pressing clay into moulds to produce plates with moulded decoration was replaced by pouring slip into glass moulds. One of the new mass-produced items was the lithophane (a thin, translucent plaque with moulded decoration that can be viewed by transmitted light), made from 1829, featuring religious or sentimental subjects.
The 19th-century international exhibitions popularized both new and historical styles by displaying artifacts from different cultures and civilizations, and manufacturers copied these objects using new techniques. Taste was now led by the bourgeoisie, and manufacturers’ output became more diverse to meet demand. More than one fashion was often popular at any one time, so 19th-century objects often display a bizarre combination of styles. The Biedermeier style was introduced c.1830; wares are similar in form to earlier Neo-classical pieces but are heavier, and have less elaborate decoration, often being painted with topographical views.
From the early 1830s the Rococo style was revived, and Meissen enjoyed a renaissance owing to its re-use from the late 1840s of 18th-century figure moulds. Rococo Revival figures and wares were greatly
in demand and formed the bulk of the factory’s production during the second half of the 19th century. Produced under the supervision of the chief modeller, Ernst August Leuteritz (1818-93), these figures are of Such typical 18th-century subjects as shepherds and shepherdesses, the aristocracy, and allegorical figures of the Seasons and the Four Continents. They can be distinguished from the originals by their hard, shiny gilding, harsh colours, and overelaborate decoration, such as intricate lacework, made by dipping real lace into the paste. The most notable Meissen products in other revival styles made during the second half of the 19th century include plates and cups and saucers of the 1840s, moulded or painted with Gothic arches and tracery patterns, and blue-ground krater vases painted with Classical scenes imitating medieval and Renaissance enamels. From the 1860s large-scale Renaissance Revival vases, often painted with flowers and blue-ground sections and with curling snake handles, became increasingly popular. From the 1870s the factory produced figures in contemporary costume, although these were outweighed by the number of Rococo and Neo-classical reproductions.
KEY FACTS
• BODY pure white hard-paste porcelain with a distinctive hard, glassy glaze
• STYLES Empire, Biedermeier, Rococo Revival, Neo-classical, Renaissance and Gothic Revivals
• PALETTE harsh versions of 18th-century colours, such as a strong pink and a yellowish green; figures covered completely with paint; hard, shiny gloss-gilding
• DECORATION encrusted flowers; topographical views on Biedermeier wares
Example
mythological figure group of a maiden sitting on a Neoclassical stool, binding Cupid’s wings with a ribbon, was
produced using a model that had originally been made by Christian Gottlieb Juchtzer, one of the modellers working at Meissen in the Neo-
classical style during the late 18th century The rather harsh palette, so typical of 19th-century Meissen figures and wares,
is especially
evident in the
red drapery over
the attendant’s
shoulder, which would never have been used on an 18th-century figure.

Majolica
Although the English word “majolica” derives from “maiolica”, the term for Italian tin-glazed pottery, the inspiration for this purely Victorian phenomenon in fact came from several quarters: not only Italian Renaissance pottery but also the pottery of the Frenchman Bernard Palissy (c.1510-90), who was famous for dishes with realistically applied reptiles, crustacea, and vegetation. Closer to home, the pottery of the Staffordshire makers Thomas Whieldon (1719-95) and Ralph Wood (1715-72) was also influential. Elements of each of these were combined in the late 1840s into a decorative ceramics material that enjoyed great popularity in mid-Victorian Britain. Majolica was also made in France, Germany, and the USA, where it is popular with collectors.
IMPORTANT PRODUCERS
Majolica was produced by many small manufacturers, but three Staffordshire factories - Minton & Co. (est. 1798), Wedgwood (est. 1759), and George Jones & Sons (est. 1861) - dominated the market and between them account for most of today’s collectable pieces. Minton and Wedgwood, the
largest makers of ornamental pottery in Staffordshire, made excellent majolica ware, and indeed both claimed to have invented it. Monumental pieces by Minton astounded visitors at such important international exhibitions as the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Huge fountains with life-sized human and animal figures formed centrepieces at the major trade shows, surrounded by other furnishings and sometimes by whole tiled rooms that glowed with the coloured glazes. Such pieces were too expensive for profitable production and were intended primarily to enhance the companies’ prestige at such events. The third important maker is less well known outside this specialist field. George Jones & Sons in Stoke-on-Trent produced some of the finest majolica, but made little else of note and consequently had nothing to fall back on when the fashion for majolica declined at the end of the 19th century. Other British factories that produced majolica, but as a sideline to their mainstream production, include Spode (under the name of Copeland, from the 1840s to the 20th century) in Stoke-on-Trent, and the Worcester Royal Porcelain Co. (est. 1862).
Staffordshire figures
The popularity of porcelain figures in Britain during the 19th century led to a demand for less expensive imitations for the mass market, and the Staffordshire potteries obliged by making exact reproductions of the fine-quality figures made by porcelain factories such as Derby. The rustic charm of Staffordshire figures proved popular at the time, and successive generations have continued to enjoy collecting these generally inexpensive mantelpiece ornaments.
BOCAGE AND SQUARE-BASED FIGURES
The products of John Walton’s factory in Burslem (active 1810-30s) were typical of early 19th-century Staffordshire figures. Copying the tradition set by Chelsea and Derby, the factory included flowering trees, a feature known as “bocage”, behind its figures. Classical deities and allegorical figures (such as the popular set of three female figures representing “Faith”, “Hope”, and “Charity”), aimed at more educated customers, were usually mounted on the same style of square base edged with a brown line. Rustic groups of children playing and shepherdesses were mounted on similar bases or on raised green mounds with streams. Biblical characters proved immensely popular, especially “Elijah and the Widow”. One distinctive type of group, mounted on “table bases” (scroll-footed platforms), is conventionally referred to as being by Obadiah Sherratt (d.1841) after a potter who worked in Burslem from c.1815; however, it is now considered unlikely that Sherratt was responsible for the unmarked table-based models usually ascribed to him.
CHARACTERS AND FAMOUS PEOPLE
Victorian Staffordshire figures were intended to be viewed on a mantelpiece from the front only, and consequently the backs were neither modelled nor painted: hence the name “flatbacks” for such pieces. Many figures were simple but highly decorative images of children or lovers. However, from the 1840s there was a demand for portraits of famous people, whose features were copied from journals or the covers of popular printed music. In an age when the public rarely knew what famous people truly looked like, potters sometimes reused discontinued moulds to represent more topical individuals. Some figures were even wrongly named, such as a portrait of Benjamin Franklin labelled as George Washington.
Some popular figures were produced for many years and often require a close examination to determine whether they are earlier or later examples; this can greatly affect the value. There are many fake Staffordshire figures on the market, and it is important to learn the correct “feel” of genuine pieces, and to buy only from reputable dealers or auctioneers.
A Boy and “zebra”
This “flatback” figure portrays a schoolboy with a horse that has curiously been painted to resemble a zebra. Flatback
figures have little or no modelling on the back, a feature that made them easy to mass-produce. It was assumed that flatback pieces would stand on a mantelpiece above a fireplace, and this piece incorporates a spill vase at the back to hold the rolled-paper spills that were used in the 19th century for lighting the fire.
ORIGINAL AND FAKE STAFFORDSHIRE
• FORMS pairs of animals (very popular from the 1840s), portraits of royalty, politicians, military and naval heroes, sportsmen, theatrical celebrities, religious figures, notorious villains
• CENTRES OF PRODUCTION most figures were made
in the towns centred around Stoke-on-Trent, although a number were made in north-eastern England and Scotland
• COLLECTING a pair of figures will always be worth more than twice the price of a single piece; later examples are less sharply moulded than the originals, with particularly crude painting
• REPRODUCTIONS AND FAKES fake Staffordshire figures
are frequently made of pure white porcelain, stained to look old; “crazing” – a network of tiny cracks or veins in the surface glaze – affects most old figures, and fakers sometimes go to such lengths to reproduce it that they over-emphasize; the resulting effect is too regular and pronounced
Marks
Only a few Victorian Staffordshire figures are marked in any way, but research can identify some factories; earlier figures by John Walton and Ralph Salt (both active early 19th century) have their names impressed into a strap of clay at the back of the base COLOUR, GLAZE, AND TYPES
Majolica colours are not enamelled but are contained within the substance of the glaze. They are applied either as separate coloured glazes or as stains painted onto the body that are picked up by the viscous lead glazes. A sign of good-quality manufacture is that the glazes are well controlled, without blurring or dribbling. The usual majolica palette is blue (including a vivid turquoise), green, yellow, orange, black, and brown.
Majolica wares include jardinieres of every size and proportion, conservatory seats, vases, dishes, teapots, and tureens. To suit the high Victorian taste, factories vied with each other to cram ornament onto their wares, leading to the creation of extraordinary objects that are both beautiful
and bizarre. Such pieces are not to everyone’s
taste, but after years of neglect majolica
is now keenly collected and can be
surprisingly highly priced. Nothing
exemplifies the frivolity of majolica
better than the range of eccentric teapots
made by Minton and George Jones in the shape of Chinese people, monkeys, boats, fish, and cats. However, most were too costly for everyday use and survive because they were kept largely for display; some of these pieces fetch very high prices at auction.
• GLAZES semi-transparent lead
• PALETTE blue, green, yellow, brown, black, orange
• FORMS domestic wares: teapots, dishes, jugs, vases, dessert baskets, tazzas, centrepieces; umbrella stands; garden ornaments
• DECORATION highly ornamented with an eclectic range
• COLLECTING an exhibition in 1982 organized by the dealers Jeremy Cooper Ltd in London ignited interest in majolica and caused the international collector’s market to take off
• FAKES collectors should beware of unmarked pieces by minor makers that have been doctored by the addition of the Minton name etched or engraved through the glaze, in an attempt to pass them off as originals
Marks
Most of the larger producers marked their pieces; marks were usually impressed into the clay under the glaze and can therefore be difficult to see; George Jones & Sons did not always employ a company mark, but did use a distinctive design number, painted in black, usually positioned in the middle of the underside of the pieces; Wedgwood and Minton also impressed date marks into their pieces
George Jones & Sons (est. 1861)
A Vase and cover by Minton & Co.
This large ornamental vase is decorated in typical high Victorian taste, inspired by the designs of the Renaissance. Well modelled and superbly glazed in a typical, strong, majolica palette, the piece incorporates three seated Bacchic figures (one unseen here), rams’ heads, and thick leafy swags, with a cherub on the finial, and such Classical motifs as the Greek key pattern.

Later Japanese ceramics
In 1853 Commodore Nlatthew Galbraith Perry of the United States Navy entered Japanese territorial waters, forcing the country to accept diplomatic relations and trade with the West after over 200 years of seclusion. One of the effects of this exposure was the introduction of western technology, and this, coupled with the ambitions of the new Meiji Government after 1868, encouraged expansion. The town of Arita, the traditional home of Japanese porcelain, responded not only by making increasing numbers of conventional wares but also with brilliant showpieces suitable for display at international exhibitions and trade fairs, such as those held in London in the 1860x, in Paris ( 1867), and in Philadelphia ( 1876). The potters in the most important ceramic centres – Kaga, Satsuma, Kyoto and Seto – also benefited from the liberal policies of the Meiji Government. Vast quantities of pottery and porcelain saturated the markets in Europe Lind the USA. Such was the craze for all things Japanese that both impressionism and the Aesthetic Movement were inspired by the imported wares.
The range of Meiji ceramics is vast and includes extraordinarily elaborate and over-decorated earthenwares and the most delicate and flimsy eggshell porcelains. The majority arc generally considered to be of variable quality, especially the blue-and-white Arita and Imari porcelains. The mass-produced wares for the export market rarely correspond to the canons of the traditional Japanese aesthetic; the designs are mostly very busy and often lack coherence. They appear either to reflect a Western picture-postcard view of Japan or to be re-creations of earlier export porcelains. The emphasis was on space-filling decoration such as millefiori (thousand flowers) or overlapping panels of various shapes filled with diverse ornament.
ARITA
Late Imari porcelain (made in or around the town of Arita) consists mainly of decorative vases, bottles, bowls, and dishes; figures or useful tablewares
were rarely if ever made. The majority v of the production was f off-white, poorly levigated
porcelain covered in a thinnish
glaze. Surface pitting, iron flecks, and smudged cobalt indicate the somewhat
casual nature of this mass-produced output. Designs are often partly stencilled with outlines in a variable Underglaze blue, which were then infilled with an orangey iron-red, green, turquoise and gilding. The surface decoration featured either a main subject within complicated borders, or an all-over design made up of small panels showing various non-concordant subjects. For such wares the emphasis was on ornamentation –the “more-is-better” school of thought. Output includes enormous Indian dub-shaped vases with flared and frilled necks; small shallow saucer dishes; globular bottles with tall narrow cylindrical necks; multi-lobed, high-shouldered jars; and large dishes moulded in the form of a chrysanthemum. These wares arc generally unmarked, although many have impressed characters. The best Imari wares at this time were made by the Fukugawa family. In 1894 Chuji Fukugawa founded the Fukugawa Manufacturing Manufacturing Co. in Arita, which produced very refined wares -with symmetrical, soft, smoky -blue underglaze decoration.
Blue-and-white Arita wares are made of the same material as the Imari type, but the designs are not compartmentalized in the same way, relying instead on ordered floral, bird, or animal subjects. Some of the flatwares, especially the smaller dishes, were decorated entirely using stencils.
KAGA AND SETO
Although Kaga on the island of Honshu was a major centre for stoneware, it produced little porcelain of note Until the 19th century. The porcelain from the region around Kaga is known as Kutani ware. There are two basic styles of this: the first uses dark washes of green, purple, yellow, and black; the second, which was made specifically for export to the West, is known as “Red Kutani”. This export ware has a red ground and grisaille decoration showing people in romantic land- and riverscapes enjoying the delights of the season; decoration may also be heightened with gilding. another common type of Kutani ware does not use red.
By the end of the 19th century there were 434 kilns in Seto in Owari Province, producing mainly export wares. The potters generally appear to have made blue-and-white porcelains, some very close in feeling and design to the Chinese porcelains produced during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722). Output consisted of thinly potted ornamental vases and teawares, which were sent to Tokyo for decoration.
SATSUMA AND KYOTO
Although Satsuma was an important centre of ceramic production from the 16th century, the town is synonymous with the highly decorative export wares made from the mid-19th century. These cream-coloured earthenwares with finely crackled glazes and thickly applied enamelled and gilded decoration were also produced in the town of Kyoto. Satsuma and Satsuma-type wares were first shown outside Japan at the international exhibitions, resulting in a huge demand for them in the West. While some are of the very highest craftsmanship, many are of rather mediocre or poor quality, intended for sale in department stores.
In Satsuma the Seikozan studio, and in
Kyoto such potters as Kinkozan IV (1824-84) and Yabu Meizan (1853-1934), made extremely fine panelled wares decorated with miniature scenes depicting people carrying out everyday activities like fishing, playing, or strolling in parklands or along riversides. Landmarks such as Mount Fujiama were also depicted, together with animals including monkeys, cranes, pheasants, peacocks, and cockerels, and flowers
Such as chrysanthemums, irises, proms blossom,
and wisteria. Around these panels the ground was embellished with complex patterns or overlapping designs. Wares included koro (incense burners), vases, wine or sake ewers, howls, covered jars, and figures. The most sophisticated wares with the finest-quality decoration appealed to followers of the Aesthetic Movement in Europe and the USA. Most of these wares are clearly signed on the base.
NORITAKE
In 1891 the McKinley Tariff Act passed by the American Congress declared that all Japanese wares imported into the USA should be clearly marked with the word “Nippon” (the Japanese name for
One of the most important factories that produced what were known as “Nippon” wares was the Noritake Co., established in 1904 in Nagoya by Icizaemon Morimura 1875). The company specialized in the production of porcelain wares, at first copying debased Rococo-style European wares decorated with flowers, fruit, foliage. in
and landscapes i pale pastel tones with gold relief highlights. During the 1920s such well-known designer-, as the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1956) were commissioned to supply designs reflecting the current vogue for Art Deco-style tea, coffee and dinner services. After 1921 the American government decided that the Nippon marls was to be changed to “Japan” or “Made in Japan”.

Arita
• BODY porcelain
• GLAZE usually fairly thin with surface pitting
• TYPES blue-and-white and Imari-style wares
• DECORATION Imari: busy; blue and white
Kaga and SetoBody
• porcelain
• DECORATION Kaga: loosely painted with predominant iron red or grisaille; Seto, mainly delicately, drawn natural themes in clear, bright g
underclaze blue
Satsuma and KyotoBODY
• fine earthenware
• GLAZE Satsuma: warm, creamy, crackled glaze
• PALETTE enamelling in bright colours, gilding
DECORATION landscapes; people carrying out everyday activities; flowers; animals
Marks
Kyoto: seal mark for Yabu Meizan
NoritakeBODY
• at first a grey Seto body; from the each- 1920s a pure white porcelain similar to that made at the French factory of Limoges
• TYPES good quality utilitarian wares of European/ American form intended for export
Marks
Mark used on many Noritake Nippon wares (C.1911-1921); “M” is for Morimura