Arta contemporană Johannis TSOUMAS Examining the influence of Japanese culture on the form and decoration of the early Meissen porcelain objects doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3938557 Summary Examining the influence of Japanese culture on the form and decoration of the early Meissen porcelain objects The aim of this research is to examine how Japanese porcelain interacted with the European porcelain in- vented in the early eighteenth century Germany, creating a novel type of utility wares and decorative objects which conquered not only the markets but also the courts of Europe. Exploring how Japanese porcelain forms and motifs created narratives after being introduced by the Portuguese missionaries and the Dutch merchants in the sixteenth and the seventeenth century, the researcher will try to point out the importance of Japanese culture in a worldwide context, and its contribution to the growing interest of the European porcelain makers, artists and trad- ers. He will also focus on the profound interest in Japanese culture, restricted to the area of Japanese ceramics and particularly porcelain wares, exploring, at the same time, when and how Japanese objects surpassed the Chinese products which had been very popular on European markets a long time before. Other questions to be answered are about the remaking of small Japanese-like figures which contributed to the Europe’s fashion frenzy for some other types of hard-paste porcelain objects such as the large-scale statues and figurines, initially made in the 1720’s and 1730’s, but also the Imari and Kakiemon style wares made for the pleasure of Augustus II the Strong, the Elec- tor of Saxony. Keywords: Japan, hard-paste porcelain, Meissen, figurines, Kakiemon style wares. Rezumat Influenţa culturii japoneze asupra formei și decorației produselor din porțelan japonez timpuriu Scopul acestei cercetări este de a examina modul în care porțelanul japonez a interacționat cu porțelanul european inventat la începutul secolului al XVIII-lea în Germania, creând un nou tip de obiecte de uz casnic şi obiecte decorative care au cucerit nu doar piețele, ci şi curțile Europei. Cercetând modul în care formele şi motivele porțelanului japonez au creat narațiuni după ce au fost introduse de misionarii portughezi şi de comercianții olan- dezi în secolele XVI – XVII, autorul va încerca să evidenţieze importanța culturii japoneze într-un context univer- sal, dar şi contribuția sa la interesul crescând al producătorilor, artiştilor şi comercianților de porțelan europeni. De asemenea, se va concentra asupra interesului profund pentru cultura japoneză, restrânsă la zona ceramicii ja- poneze şi în special a produselor din porțelan, explorând, în acelaşi timp, când şi cum obiectele japoneze au depăşit produsele chineze care erau foarte populare pe piețele europene de mult timp. Alte întrebări ţin de reproducerea unor mici figuri de tip japonez, care au contribuit la frenezia modei europene pentru unele tipuri de obiecte din porțelan de pastă dură, cum ar fi statuile şi figurinele la scară largă, realizate inițial în anii 1720 şi 1730, dar şi obiectele în stil Imari şi Kakiemon, făcute pentru plăcerea lui Augustus al II-lea cel Puternic, Elector de Saxonia. Cuvinte-cheie: Japonia, porţelan dur, Meissen, figurine, produse în stilul Kakiemon. Introduction Japan [8. p. 210]. So it was no coincidence that Dutch sailors and merchants were among the these were the first traders who, along with other first fixed partners of the Japanese during the at- products, made the Japanese porcelain known in tempt of the Portuguese colonists to Christianize Europe, through the famous Dresden-born mer- the Japanese nation in the 16th century. After 1615, chant Zacharias Wagner (1614-1668)1 whose busi- when the Portuguese were expelled, the Dutch re- ness with the Dutch East Indies Company, in 1659 mained the only commercial link of the West in resulted in the first major shipment of Japanese 100 ARTA 2020 ISSN 2345–1181 Arta contemporană porcelain wares to Europe. After the introduction Bottger (1682-1719), a German alchemist who al- of the first Japanese porcelain wares to the royal though had been into the Augustus the Strong ser- courts of central and northern Europe, people vice since 1701, only in 1705 began to concentrate became seriously interested in their unique form on the invention of ‘white gold’, as hard-paste por- finesse, harmonious decoration and functional celain used to be called. However, given Bottger’s values. Strangely enough, in spite of the fact that rather obscure background, it is not completely hard-paste porcelain had been known to the Chi- sure that his experiments would have been success- nese for centuries and thus became widely avail- ful if he had not met the influential mathematician able through trade, it was in the beginning of the and physicist Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus seventeenth century that it began to be produced (1651-1708) who assisted his efforts to the most in Japan. More precisely, the Japanese started pro- [11, p. 6]. The first type of porcelain produced by ducing porcelain in the area of Arita, southwest Ja- Böttger had nothing to do with what we know now pan, in the late 1610s. The earliest wares produced as hard-paste porcelain for it was an extremely were decorated in a plain underglaze blue and were hard, red stoneware type of material, quite difficult known as Shoko-Imari. It did not take long for Jap- to handle, widely known as Böttgersteinzeug. The anese potters to master a fine white body, having first experimental type of porcelain was smooth discovered naturally mixed deposits of porcelain and clean in touch as it could be easily polished, clay, with decorations in both blue cobalt glaze or- even before firing, giving to the final object a shiny, namented with a small but striking range of over- jewel-like surface. In terms of design, the first pro- glaze enamel colors. In fact, it took only fifty years duction samples were copies of Chinese ceramic to form a new aesthetic, functional and ritual cul- pots, mainly the Yixing wares, and German Ba- ture in the country in order to conquer the taste of roque silver vessels. It took only five years to devel- the nobles of Europe. Private collections of Imari, op this raw material into the hard-paste porcelain Kakiemon and Arita type porcelain items2 seemed which could then enable artists to create fine, high to grow more and more and by the end of the sev- quality works that were first marketed in 1713. The enteenth century the need for the import of more color enameling technique took time to develop as wares of various types and functions had become it was applied to the objects by Johann Gregorius even more pronounced. Especially the highly dec- Höroldt as late as 1723. Augustus the Strong took orated wares of Imari and Kakiemon types were advantage of that phenomenal production in many avidly collected by the European bourgeoisie not ways. One of them was to follow the 18th century simply because they were tastefully designed and classic rules of the European politics which were excellently enameled, but also because they were highly associated with the gift exchange among the strongly associated with the exotic, ceremonial nobility [12, p. 35]. Thus, he commissioned a large character of Japanese society and culture. One of number of expensive, flamboyant artifacts from the the most renown collectors of the time was August factory, such as snuff boxes, tea sets and vases mak- II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, who by ing porcelain quickly a symbol of his omnipotence. the beginning of the eighteenth century, had in his In general, the Meissen factory, besides bringing a personal collection more than twenty thousand vast amount of money to the country, contributed pieces of Chinese, but also of, the more expensive to the production of new porcelain goods many of and rare, Japanese porcelain to be used for the dec- which were made and decorated in the traditional oration of the Japanese Palace3, a building of exqui- Japanese and Chinese styles. A quite big part of site charm and beauty built on the Neustadt bank these items were purely decorative and included an of the Elbe river. However, in spite of the fact that extensive series of full size native and foreign birds hard-paste porcelain was extremely popular in the and animals, but also sculptured figures of white country, the recipe for its production remained a porcelain, made in their natural colors and forms, sealed secret until 1708, when it was finally discov- many of which had direct references to the society, ered in Germany. This led to the official founda- religion and customs of the country. Others were tion of the royal porcelain factory in 1710 within purely functional, heavily influenced by both the the walls of the Albrechtsburg castle in the town Chinese and the Japanese culture including forms of Meissen, fifteen miles upriver from the Saxon ranging from small, individual rice bowls, cups capital city of Dresden [5, p. 98]. Nonetheless, it and saucers to large vases and many varieties of tea should also be stated that it was Johann Friedrich sets [4, p. 34]. Most of them were either directly or ISSN 2345–1181 ARTA 2020 101 Arta contemporană partly copied from the originals both in terms of halves of the material would be brought together technique and form, but mainly of decoration. and after a complete juncture of their surfaces, the The new trend of hard-porcelain sculptures slabs would be removed from the mould and the The human figure and animal porcelain sculpture would attain its proper shape [2, p. 132]. sculptures (figurines) constituted a major part of After the figures were completed and given their the German tradition of creating porcelain hard finishing touches, they were left out in the air to paste objects.