Aesthetics and Ethnography: Japan in East Asian collections in Leiden, Milan, The Hague and Venice Maria Montcalm 11351799 Museum Studies (Heritage Studies) Master’s Thesis Supervisor: Bram Kempers Second Reader: Charlotte van Rappard-Boon 29-3-2019 Aesthetics and Ethnography Maria Montcalm Table of Contents List of Illustrations ......................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 1: Leiden – International Exhibitions ............................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Milan – Trade and Industry ........................................................................ 26 Chapter 3: The Hague – Japonism ............................................................................... 39 Chapter 4: Venice – Travel and Diplomacy ................................................................. 53 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 65 Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 69 Image Credits ............................................................................................................... 72 Aesthetics and Ethnography Maria Montcalm List of Illustrations Figure 1. Map of the 1883 International Exhibition grounds....................................... 16 Figure 2. Legend of Exhibition grounds map. ............................................................. 17 Figure 3. Amida Buddha 1716, bought from Dirk Boer in 1883 (RV-417-81). .......... 19 Figure 4. Selection of objects bought from Dirk Boer in 1883. From top left, clockwise: bronze temple lantern (RV-417-104b), bronze elephant surmounted by a pagoda (RV-417-103a), bronze Kannon statuette (RV-417-93), bronze statue of Shozen doji (RV- 417-100), bronze Shishi incense burner (RV-417-107), bronze incense holder in the shape of a cow (RV-417-105-a, RV-417-105-b). ................................................................................... 20 Figure 5. Buddhas purchased from Bing in 1883. From top left, clockwise: Ichiji Kinrin (RV-418-2), Yakushi Nyorai (RV-418-1), Ichiji Kinrin (RV-418-4), Dainichi Nyorai (RV-418-5). The last three are from the Tokugawa Mausoleum in Zojoji, cast in 1648. ....... 22 Figure 6. Amida Buddha purchased by Giussani in Yokohama. ................................. 32 Figure 7. Sala dei Bronzi at Castello Sforzesco 1901-1902......................................... 35 Figure 8. Japansche Zaal/ Salon Japonais at the Grand Royal Bazar. Hendrik Wilhelmus Lust, De Japanse zaal in de Grand Bazar, ca.1854. ............................................. 40 Figure 9. Japan-inspired party at Pulchri Studio, The Hague, 1900. ........................... 41 Figure 10. Room in the Mesdag house, 1915. ............................................................. 43 Figure 11. Eighteenth-century helmet (hwm0552) that was later decorated with an incised silver dragon motif....................................................................................................... 49 Figure 12. Mesdag’s studio. ......................................................................................... 50 Figure 13. Count Bardi portrayed as a samurai............................................................ 56 Figure 14. The Bardi collection in Palazza Vendramin Calergi. ................................. 58 Figure 15. The Bardi collection in Palazza Vendramin Calergi. ................................. 59 Figure 16. The Bardi collection in Palazza Vendramin Calergi. ................................. 59 Figure 17. The Bardi collection in Palazza Vendramin Calergi. ................................. 60 1 Aesthetics and Ethnography Maria Montcalm Acknowledgements The writing of this thesis has taken me through many times and places both figuratively and literally. I enjoyed the chance to research the movement of cultural objects from East Asia to Europe over an almost fifty year period straddling the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend a year and a half on this thesis and to have had the opportunity to visit my case study collections in Italy and the Netherlands. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Bram Kempers of the University of Amsterdam, whose patience is only matched by his thoughtful consideration of my work. His insightful critique helped me to focus my writing while encouraging me in the direction of my research. To my second reader, Charlotte van Rappard-Boon with her years of experience working with Japanese collections in the Netherlands, I would like to give thanks for her enthusiasm for my research and for her feedback. I am very grateful for the assistance I received from the institutions which house the collections of my case studies; Museum Volkenkunde where I did my internship, the librarians at the Van Gogh Museum Library who helped me access some hard-to-find sources, and in particular to Claudio Carello, librarian at MUDEC, who directed me to some invaluable resources during my short time in Milan. I appreciate all the support from my family and friends; especially to Irem, Shirin and Valeria who inspired me at the beginning of my research, and to Julie and Robin who gave me the encouragement I needed to finish. 2 Aesthetics and Ethnography Maria Montcalm Introduction The cultural heritage of Japan holds a unique place in cultural histories. Japanese art history is often taught as the non-European component of art history courses due to its influence during the late nineteenth century. The cultural anthropology of Japan lacks the overt colonial context that taints research into many other cultures. Japanese cultural heritage has the most variety of representation in museums in Europe. Japanese material culture can be displayed in art museums alongside the canon of European art history, in ethnological museums with various cultures from around the world, or in museums dedicated specifically to Asian art and culture. Collection histories are particularly interesting for this subject, because the motivations of the original collectors, and subsequent museum management, can show the trends and vagaries of the representation of Japanese culture. The first direct contact between Europe and Japan was in the sixteenth century with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1543. Indirect contact had existed before through the Silk Road, but knowledge of the country and culture was scarce in comparison with that of continental Asia. The Portuguese exported crafts and art objects along with raw materials. In the seventeenth century, the Dutch became the sole European traders with Japan, and the fall of the Ming Dynasty in China led to the disruption of Sino-European trade. This was taken advantage of by the Dutch and Japanese with the production of export porcelain and lacquerware to the European market. This first craze for things oriental led to attempts at reproduction through Delftware and the technique of ‘japanning,’ though these efforts did not offset the demand for Japanese products. Throughout the eighteenth century, porcelain and lacquered furnishings became de rigueur for grand houses, however in this period Chinese kilns and production centres had regained their strength and Japanese exports declined. Such objects for domestic ornamentation were associated with China and the fashion for oriental design became known as chinoiserie. The pendulum of taste swung away from chinoiserie by the mid-nineteenth century, with Neoclassicism and Romanticism replacing such Rococo-associated styles. The prestige of China was also devalued politically and economically through its defeat in the Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860). Chinese and Japanese decorative objects continued to be imported in the name of ornamentation. In the rest of the world, objects of everyday life and of traditional culture were being collected first by missionaries, and then later by naturalists who collected manmade objects along with specimens from the natural world. In the nineteenth century, collecting for research or scientific purposes emerged from the 3 Aesthetics and Ethnography Maria Montcalm philosophies of the Enlightenment, and ethnology developed as a discipline which was closely tied to the ethnographic collections formed by European explorers of newly- accessible lands. This is the historical context leading up to the opening of Japan to diplomatic and trade relations with the USA and European states in the 1850s. The sudden international influence brought about domestic political changes, with political power being restored to the emperor and the feudal system replaced by a centralized government. During the reign of the Meiji emperor (1868-1912), economic and artistic exports increased, and ethnographic study occurred mainly through published travel diaries and collections formed by visitors. Artistic exports brought on an obsession with Japanese designs and patterns, known as Japonism. This fascination influenced the artistic avant-garde, as well as theatre and garden design. The cultural context, in both scientific and artistic circles, influenced collection interests and reception