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Saturday, July 14, 2018

The Finer Points Of Japanese Cloisonne

By Dennis Graham


The thing about beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The thing is, only humankind has the eyes necessary to see it. Most other animals are attracted to their mates by smell, by pheromones. But humans are visual in nature. They see the beauty instead of smelling it. There is no denying that humanity is able to appreciate visual beauty. Now, this is not something that is unique to one culture or one country. In fact, this is something that is universal across the whole spectrum of humankind. But the way it is expressed can have a number of distinctions. Take for example Japanese cloisonne.

Cloisonne is a variant of art. The term originates from France. However, the most well known examples come from places like China and Japan, both of which are rather far from France.

The history of it in Japan begins in the Meiji period. At the time the samurai class, once one of the highest ranks in society, had taken quite a social tumble. Many samurai had to live on a paltry income. Then one of the decided to supplement their income, and they did that by using art. They took a piece of Chinese enamel and then deconstructed it, in the process learning the methodology in its creation. Once that samurai learned the process, they took on students. The resulting pieces would become highly desired exports once Japan reopened itself to the rest of the world after going through an isolationist phase.

Cloisonne is used for one thing. That would be to make what is dull bright. See, most plates and bowls are plain, with no decoration about them. True, they serve their purpose well enough with any such frivolity. But it would not hurt to look good while also being practical.

The way it is done is pretty simple. First, some fine wiring is put on the thing that is to have paint applied on it in order to delineate the areas to be brightened. Then some enamel paste is put on, for the actual coloring. Then it is heated with fire and then polished.

While there are arts and crafts classes and adult coloring books to help a fully grown human relax with some artistic pursuits, cloisonne still has its place in the pantheon of making things not ugly. First of all, it takes time. This of course means that the artist has to put their focus into it, which can make the rest of the world melt away.

There are going to be some supplies that are needed. First will be the copper bowl or dish or plate or jar. Then some wires. Then some enamel, because the whole thing needs some coloring otherwise there would be no point to it.

There is going to be quite a bit of time expended on the activity. Anyone who wants to do this needs to be sure. Because it will not get done in a matter of seconds. It will take quite a while.

Human being like things that are pleasing to the eye. The world is not always so. But there are ways to make parts of it nice to look at.




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