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Thứ Năm, 19 tháng 7, 2018

The Finer Points Of Japanese Cloisonne

By Dennis Graham


Artistic expression is a cornerstone of humanity. The ability to look at the world and capture the beauty of it is something that is uniquely human. Now, given the sheer number of people out and about in the world, it would only make sense that each culture has its own way of expressing their own artistic visions, and Japanese Cloisonne is just one of them.

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.

In the Meiji period, the samurai class, once proud and noble, was way down on its luck. Many of them were forced to subsist on a meager government income, a far cry from being among the most respected in their societies, serving at the pleasure of their lords and vassals. While many of them realized that their pay was not going to be enough, only one of them decided to do something about through artistic expression. That one samurai took some china that came from China and then disassembled it, finding out how it was made and in essence, reverse engineering the whole process. They were then able to produce a small dish of their own making.

Cloisonne is used for one thing. That would be to make what is dull bright. See, most plates and bowls are plain, with no decoration about them. True, they serve their purpose well enough with any such frivolity. But it would not hurt to look good while also being practical.

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 are still ways for it to be used in the modern day. For example, since the process can be very time consuming, it can be therapeutic. Any person who engages in it is going to have to block the whole world out and focus on it completely.

The materials involved are fairly simple. First of all, the thing to be painted, and that is usually something made out of copper. Then there is the enamel paste for the colors. Finally, there is the wiring, for the mapping out process.

Patience is a virtue. Since this can take time, an artist needs to have a clear schedule. They also need the patience to get through it without blowing a gasket.

The thing about human beings is that they are likely the only animal capable of significant abstract thought. They sure as hell are the only animal capable of creating art. The fact is, even when the species as a whole was still in its relative infancy, it was still creating and appreciating art. Paintings scrawled on the walls of cave prove that, as does hollowed out bones that served as rudimentary flutes. Given all that evidence, it can be rightly inferred that man has appreciated the arts for at least a few thousand generations before the modern era.




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