DESIGNING a NEW MOLD: the AMERICAN SILVER INDUSTRY and JAPANESE MEIJI METALWORK 1876-1893 by Elizabeth A. Williams Submitted To
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DESIGNING A NEW MOLD: THE AMERICAN SILVER INDUSTRY AND JAPANESE MEIJI METALWORK 1876-1893 By Copyright 2015 Elizabeth A. Williams Submitted to the graduate degree program in Art History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson: Dr. Sherry Fowler ________________________________ Dr. Susan Earle ________________________________ Dr. David Cateforis ________________________________ Dr. Sally Cornelison ________________________________ Dr. Diane Fourny Date Defended: April 3, 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Elizabeth A. Williams certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: DESIGNING A NEW MOLD: THE AMERICAN SILVER INDUSTRY AND JAPANESE MEIJI METALWORK 1876-1893 ________________________________ Chairperson: Dr. Sherry Fowler Date approved: April 3, 2015 ii Abstract The flood of Japanese decorative arts that reached American shores after Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy compelled the opening of Japan to the West in 1854, initiated a mutually beneficial circuit of exchange that concomitantly enabled both countries to achieve international acclaim for their artistic merit in the field of metalwork. This dissertation explores the momentous technical, stylistic and creative impact that Japanese metalwork had upon the American silver industry in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the equally transformative impact that entry into the American market had upon Japanese metalwork, as the country emerged from international isolation during the Meiji era (1868-1912). The introduction of Japanese design amidst myriad Western revival movements allowed for the emergence of a complete break from the historicized European motifs, forms and iconography to which American silver had been subserviently tied. Leading silver firms, such as the Gorham Manufacturing Company and Tiffany & Co., adopted and adapted Japanese aesthetics and techniques to create visually stunning works, which garnered worldwide recognition and praise not previously achieved. Drawing on the dual traditions of Buddhist bronze casting and Samurai sword making, late nineteenth-century Japanese metalsmiths created works for display at American world’s fairs that served to revitalize the Japanese metalworking industry, promote commercial export of Japanese metalwork and internationally showcase the metalworkers’ technical and artistic virtuosity, and thus that of the nation’s artistic culture as a whole. The beauty of Japanese mixed metalwork encouraged imitative reproductions in America, yet, more significantly, the ingenuity of traditional Japanese metalwork inspired the silversmiths of Tiffany and Gorham to develop a distinctly American realization of Japan’s technically challenging processes, producing aesthetically striking results of international hybridity. Equally impossible iii to conceive would be the international position and critical assessment of Japanese artists and designers in the early twentieth century, without the unequivocal impact of the country’s aesthetics on the Western world, especially America. The predominant role of the Japanese metalworker entering a national phase of flux and the international rise of the American silversmith burgeoning beyond its borders converged to produce not only an explosion of innovative design, technology, and industry for both countries, but also an exponential expansion of an admiring international audience, boldly willing to cast aside past traditions, constraints, and biases. A new design was cast, indefinitely and concomitantly altering and transforming the American silver industry and Japanese Meiji metalworkers. iv Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter I: Japan Comes to America: The Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876, Kiritsu Kōshō Kaisha and Christopher Dresser ............................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter II:Sources of Japanese Aesthetics and the Impact on Gorham and Tiffany Silver ........................ 39 Chapter III: Stylistic Fusion: Gorham Japanesque Silver at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum .. 93 The Gorham Furber Service: From Historicized Revivalism to Japanesque Aestheticism ...................... 97 Gorham’s “Oriental East Indian” Tea Service: From Japanesque Aestheticism to American Orientalism .............................................................................................................................................................. 114 Chapter IV: Japanese and American Aesthetic Exchanges: Perceptions, Critical Responses and Repercussions ........................................................................................................................................... 138 Epilogue: Stylistic Transition at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition: Japanesque Design Gives Way to a Classicized Interlude ............................................................................................................................... 171 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 184 v Introduction Propelled by economic voracity and a desire for political dominance and global power, the United States through the presence of Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy and accompanying battle ships at Edo (Tokyo) Bay negotiated the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate in 1854. The accord, which stipulated conditions related to diplomacy, trade, and naval concessions was looked upon by the American government as a strategic coup with little consideration for what the intersection of cultures might generate. Rather than risk war with a foreign power equipped with modern weaponry, Japan reluctantly relinquished its more than two-hundred-year old isolation policy. Unwittingly, both countries subsequently experienced a transformation not originally envisioned by either government: Japanese aesthetics would forever alter the course of American art and design and Western consumerism would swiftly advance the status of Japanese art and design on the global market. Whereas nearly all types of artistic media were affected by this cultural juxtaposition—from paintings and prints to ceramics and lacquerware—the medium of metalwork stands as a primary visual testament to the momentous dynamism engendered when American and Japanese aesthetics collided and coalesced to form a new transhemispheric design legacy. The flood of Japanese decorative arts that reached American shores after Perry compelled the opening of Japan initiated a mutually beneficial circuit of exchange that concomitantly enabled both countries to achieve international acclaim for their artistic merit in the field of metalwork. Whereas other media, such as ceramics, were impacted by this stylistic interchange, it is the medium of metalwork that experienced the greatest transformation. For Japanese smiths, the production of their wares fundamentally shifted from militaristic and religious needs to 1 domestic and decorative purposes. For American smiths, the production of their wares underwent an unprecedented break from traditional Western aesthetics, made possible in large part by Japanese metallurgical technology. The momentous technical, stylistic and creative impact that Japanese metalwork had upon the American silver industry in the last quarter of the nineteenth century was equaled by the transformative impact that entry into the American market had upon Japanese metalwork, as Japan emerged from international isolation during the Meiji era (1868- 1912). The introduction of Japanese design amidst myriad Western revival movements allowed for the emergence of a complete break from the historicized European motifs, forms, and iconography to which American silver had been subserviently tied. Leading silver firms, such as the Gorham Manufacturing Company and Tiffany & Company, adopted and adapted Japanese aesthetics and techniques to create visually stunning works of silver mixed with other metals, which garnered worldwide recognition and praise not previously achieved. Drawing on the dual traditions of Buddhist bronze casting and Samurai sword making, late nineteenth-century Japanese metalsmiths created works for display at American world’s fairs that served to revitalize the Japanese metalworking industry, promote commercial export of Japanese metalwork and internationally showcase the metalworkers’ technical and artistic virtuosity and thus that of the nation’s artistic culture as a whole. This study directly identifies and links the ongoing circuits of exchange between Japan and America during the last quarter of the nineteenth century that profoundly affected the countries’ silver and metalwork aesthetics, techniques and critical reviews. Whereas American Aesthetic silver may be addressed within the Aesthetic Movement and American silver industry as a whole, as well as in the context of a stylistic movement within a specific manufactory’s milieu, further examination considers the causal means of interaction between Japanese and 2 American metalworking firms and the aesthetic, political, and cultural effects thereof. Likewise, beyond the discussion of Meiji-period metalwork and its contribution