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Eastern Craft in Orientalism and Modern Design ISHIKAWA, Yoshimune / Phd / Toyo Institute of Art and Design / Japan

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Eastern Craft in Orientalism and Modern Design ISHIKAWA, Yoshimune / Phd / Toyo Institute of Art and Design / Japan Eastern craft in Orientalism and Modern Design ISHIKAWA, Yoshimune / PhD / Toyo Institute of Art and Design / Japan Chinoiserie / Japonisme / Japanese Design / Scandinavian roof and door with a lattice pattern similar to the back of the chair Design (fig. 1, right). Because part of their design derived from traditional Chinese architecture, their design was different from original Chi- This article focuses on furniture inspired by Eastern culture in Ori- nese furniture. For example, the Chinese chair had a back that entalism and modern design and clarifies the acceptance of the was one curved slat with minimal fretwork. The cabinet was a East not only as exoticism but also as inspiration for new design simple box that had no architectural decoration (however, there and theory beyond century. Eastern craft often offered new im- were some examples that had pediment or cornice in the origi- ages from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, and this his- nal Chinese cabinet importing Orientalism in the nineteenth cen- torical process is easily seen. Therefore, with regard to craft, the tury). The exoticism portrayed by Chippendale was, as it were, a East was not an “other” as Said has suggested. collage of Chinese architecture. In 1754, Chippendale published The Gentleman and Cabinet-Mak- 1. Introduction er’s Director, which shows Chinese style governed by his logi- According to Edward Said, the Orient signified a system of repre- cal method of design. He took Chinese architecture apart once, sentations that were politically framed by the Western world and chose some of its symbolic parts, and then reconstructed them existed as a separate, eccentric, backward, and silently different in Rococo style. Therefore, with regard to images of exoticism, his world of paintings, literature, and so forth. The Orient existed for furniture was stronger than original Chinese furniture. the West and was constructed by and in relation to the West. Moreover, it was a mirror image of what was inferior, an “other” to the West. The Orient represented in crafts, however, was different. Oriental- ism, such as Chinoiserie and Japonisme, were popular and in- spired the new design of furniture. Although they were generally accepted as exotic, they also inspired new design and theory in both the West and East, a point evident in both Orientalism and modern design. For example, English designers reconstructed Chinese images in furniture or discovered lost craftsmanship in Japanese style; French aristocrats regarded the Turkish sofa as a refuge from the mechanized West; and Japanese designers re- garded the harmony of the West and East as aesthetics of stand- ardization. Finally, Chinese or Islamic chairs offered Scandinavian Figure 1. Chinese-style chair and cabinet designed by Thomas Chippendale. designers a prototype with a strategic and practical design. Exoticism as fantastic anti-modernism Historically, Eastern crafts have offered new images beyond Exoticism faced a new phase. The Eastern style offered a refuge century and border. Thus, this article clarifies that Eastern craft from modernization in the nineteenth century. The refuge had existed not as an “other” but as a creative inspiration for the West two aspects: the decadent dream for aristocrats and the pure and East. beauty for craftsmanship. Sigfried Giedion pointed out lifestyle differences between the East and West: 2. Eastern craft in Orientalism Mechanized man in the nineteenth century yearned for an atmosphere other than that of his own surroundings. In the East everyone, rich and poor alike, has time and leisure. In the West Design by Chippendale: Exoticism as reconstruction of no one has. Western life tends toward strain; Eastern life toward symbol relaxation. The early trend of Eastern craft in the West was called Chinoiserie. Such lifestyles can be seen in the French interior of aristocrats One example is English designer Thomas Chippendale (1718– such as Louis Philippe, whose double bed with a rudimentary 1779) who designed some Chinese-style furniture. arm or backrest occupied the center of the room, offering a place where aristocrats could relax during parties. Eastern furniture, The chair often had distinctive fretwork on the back comprised of such as the Turkish sofa, facilitated their pleasure-seeking life- geometrical lines (fig. 1, left). The cabinet also had a high-pitched style. Walter Benjamin criticized such lifestyles as follows: ISHIKAWA, Yoshimune 2012. Eastern craft in Orientalism and Modern Design. In Farias, Priscila Lena; Calvera, Anna; Braga, Marcos da Costa & Schincariol, Zuleica (Eds.). Design frontiers: territories, concepts, technologies [=ICDHS 2012 - 8th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies]. São Paulo: Blucher, 2012. ISBN 978-85-212-0692-7. DOI 10.5151/design-icdhs-091 Eastern craft in Orientalism and Modern Design The Persian carpet and the ottoman, the hanging lamp and the genuine Caucasian dagger. Behind the heavy, gathered Khilim tapestries the master of the house has orgies with his share certificates, feels himself the Eastern merchant, the indolent pasha in the caravanserai of otiose enchantment, until that dagger in its silver sling above the divan puts an end, one fine afternoon, to his siesta and himself. This description elicits images of Oriental products as represen- tations of a decadent life. The interior was a private universe like Figure 2. Stenciled frogs and flowers of cabinet and low seat chair designed a dream of “Phantasmagoria” written in his essay Paris: capital by Christopher Dresser. of the nineteenth century (1939). Because the Orient was dif- ferent as an “other” in contemporary capital culture, it could be manufacturing and trading company, and it encouraged the their means of escape from the real world. Japanese industries until 1891. Their products, which ranged from paintings to furniture, were extremely decorative, portray- Design by Dresser: Exoticism as representation of ing to the West a rare exoticism. For example, the cabinet had craftsmanship relief of bamboo at the front door. Crown molding like pediment, As mentioned above, to seek refuge from mechanization which was not provided with the traditional Japanese cabinet, showed other aspects as well. As mechanization and mass were in the shape of many birds. Orientalism also changed production increased, so too did the interest in decorative art conventional philosophy. Japanese products had conceptually in handcrafts of the medieval age. Christopher Dresser (1834– unified several types of products asOdougu , a concept that 1904), for example, was interested in traditional Japanese included tools, implements, instruments, utensils, kits, outfits, design: grotesque in the shape of man or animal seen in the and so forth. Further, art and craft had not been conceptually cabinet or vase. He also regarded it as design free from Western separated. There were differences between Jotemono and Ge- artistic canons that were believed to be a pure, childlike accept- temono. The former means a refined product that is elaborately ance of nature. His design of the chair also reflects this idea. decorated; the latter means a plain product having no decora- He designed cabinets that had stenciled frogs, flowers, fish, and tion. However, these unifications were lost when the western birds on black (fig. 2, left) that were inspired byMaki-e , which is concept of “craft” was introduced. Japanese lacquer sprinkled with gold or silver powder on a black surface of Urushi. The height and width of the seat, back, and Birth of modern design and philosophy in Japan: Har- legs varied. The chair had a geometrical pattern on the low seat, mony of various cultures and the back was derived from Japanese craft (fig. 2, right). Crafts, an export industry, were still a vital slogan of the govern- ment in the late 1920s. Product designer Toyoguchi Katsuhei The longing for Eastern craft could be equated to the Arts and (1905–1991) established Keiji-Kobo (Workshop for Physical- Crafts Movement of England that respected medieval crafts- ity) with others in 1928. The main purpose of their activity was manship. Dresser studied graphical patterns of animals and the standardization of the whole life space, and it led the post- plants seen in the wallpaper designed by William Morris. Various war Japanese industrial design movement. Although Keiji-Kobo patterns in his design can be regarded not only as a representa- spontaneously disappeared in the 1930s, Toyoguchi attempted tion of the Orient, but also as creativity of the past. This ambigu- to recover new aesthetics that fit the standardization. He said ity signifies a point of contact between the East and the West. that our lives should comprise a formative mixture and “the He discovered the past of the West in the Orient. elements of the mixture should be old, new, ethnic, mechan- ic, handmade, dynamic, and static, and must be unified by a As previously mentioned, Chippendale created furniture as a sense.” His masterpiece, the “Spoke Chair” (1962) (fig. 3, left) collage of Chinese elements. It was intended not to reproduce shows his philosophy with its thick legs so as not to damage original Chinese furniture but rather to emphasize the different the traditional Japanese rush floor and a low and wide seat that image as an “other.” Not only did Dresser reproduce it, but he is in line with the Japanese custom of sitting cross-legged on also discovered past Western creativity in Japanese craft and the floor. In the style of English local chairs, this chair also has a designed the furniture inspired by it. simplified Windsor back. The above characteristics illustrate the harmony of cultures as he described. 3. Eastern craft in modern design The Spoke Chair, compared with Dresser’s chair, has no deco- rative pattern on its surface and has no intention of showing Loss of traditional design and philosophy in Japan exoticism or craftsmanship. The Spoke Chair offered a harmoni- The Japanese craft that inspired Dresser is not exactly tradition- ous blending of West and East, creating a practical lifestyle for al.
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