Thursday, July 12, 2018

Pretty Pictures With Japanese Cloisonne

By Dennis Graham


There are some things in the world that are unique to humanity. While it is often thought that things like murder and homosexuality are exclusively human, they are not. But what is exclusively human is art. Now, there are billions of people who are moving about the planet. These people are divided geographically. Now, this division has fostered unique cultures. Given that art is unique to humanity and that culture makes humans distinct from each other, it follows then that the way art is expressed will differ from one culture to another, like Japanese cloisonne.

Cloisonne is a variant of art. The term originates from France. However, the most well known examples come from places like China and Japan, both of which are rather far from France.

The history of it in Japan begins in the Meiji period. At the time the samurai class, once one of the highest ranks in society, had taken quite a social tumble. Many samurai had to live on a paltry income. Then one of the decided to supplement their income, and they did that by using art. They took a piece of Chinese enamel and then deconstructed it, in the process learning the methodology in its creation. Once that samurai learned the process, they took on students. The resulting pieces would become highly desired exports once Japan reopened itself to the rest of the world after going through an isolationist phase.

The thing, there really are not that many practical functions for cloisonne. The fact is that art itself is not very practical. Art does not lend itself well to practicality. But still, the world without it would be nothing short of dull. So it makes the world a little less dull, puts a little bit more color in life.

The way it is done is pretty simple. First, some fine wiring is put on the thing that is to have paint applied on it in order to delineate the areas to be brightened. Then some enamel paste is put on, for the actual coloring. Then it is heated with fire and then polished.

There is still some use for it in the modern day. First of all, the process is timeless. Simply painting things straight on an empty canvas like a jar is all well and good, but there is far less care taken into it. Now, the cloisonne process, while taking a little longer, is also going to a cut above.

The materials involved should be easily obtained. The first would be the canvass, so to speak, which is to be made of copper. Then there is the wiring. The last thing will be the enamel paste, in order to facilitate the application of color.

There is going to be quite a bit of time expended on the activity. Anyone who wants to do this needs to be sure. Because it will not get done in a matter of seconds. It will take quite a while.

Human being like things that are pleasing to the eye. The world is not always so. But there are ways to make parts of it nice to look at.




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