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Art of the Seven Treasures: Brilliant Enamel Work in Japan
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13396 |
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THE ARTS
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9 / 1987 |
2,080 Words |
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George Kuwayama
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In Japan the art of enameling spans many centuries. The sparkle, sheen, brilliance, and durability of enameled surfaces have been appreciated by generations of patrons of this Japanese medium. Although the earliest example of enameling in Japan dates to the seventh century, it was not until the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries that enameling matured and attained its aesthetic peak. In that period, consummate technical mastery combined with the artistic use of both enamel and its metal support effectively exploited the inherent qualities of each in the design. Subsequently, in the nineteenth century, new developments and influences from Europe stimulated a revival of enameling with a more brilliant and varied palette. This, combined with refinements in wire techniques, culminated toward the end of the century in superlative cloisonné work admired for its technical virtuosity and artistic achievement.
Precious Gems
The Japanese term for enameling is shippo (seven treasures), suggesting that enamels may have been created as substitutes for inlaid precious gems. In the process of enameling, a silicate mixture is fused by firing to a metal base, producing a sparkling, colorful surface. Early Japanese enameled works were mainly produced by the champleve technique, in which enamel is poured into compartments hammered into (repousse), gouged out of, or cast in, metal. The use of wires (cloisons) to form compartments is equally ancient, but cloisonné did not become the dominant method of enamel work in Japan until the late nineteenth century, when the precision and delicacy of the pieces were unsurpassed. The Far East adopted the technique of enameling from western Asia and Europe, where extant examples may be dated as early as the thirteenth century B.C. This art continued to thrive in ancient Greece and Scythia and subsequently in Western Europe, Sassanian Persia, Byzantium, and the Islamic world. Enameling methods were disseminated to disparate regions of Eurasia, and the first enameled objects produced in East Asia were discovered in Korean tombs of the Three Kingdoms period (100 B.C.-A.D. 668). Gold earrings filled with transparent green or deep blue enamel were excavated from early Silla tombs dated to the late fifth or sixth century.
The earliest Japanese enameled works were excavated from the Kegoshi tomb in Nara, attributable to the late seventh century. These enameled coffin plaques are the result of a flourishing cultural interchange between Japan and the Korean kingdoms of Paekche and Silla. Another early example of enameling in Japan is the mirror in the Shosoin Treasury of the Todaiji temple, where objects are dated prior to A.D. 756. Still other enameled pieces that can be placed chronologically are the door fittings of the Byodoin, which was dedicated in 1052. All these Japanese enameled works were probably created by glass craftsmen flaming glass rods whose molten drops were directed into heated metal compartments. This molten glass process differed from the European and Near Eastern convention of adding powdered silicates that fused on firing, a technology not introduced to East Asia until the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).
The method of heating powdered silicates was probably introduced into Japan during the Momoyama period (1573-1615), but its exact source is unknown. A Korean origin has been hypothesized, part of the aftermath of Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi's abortive conquest of Asia in the 1590s. However, few, if any, enameled works can be attributed to
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