JAPAN
to one of unparalleled excellence. There was no reason to anticipate that the Japanese would take the lead of the world in this branch of applied art. They had no presumptive title to do so. Yet they certainly have done so.
There has been discussion among Occidental connoisseurs about the relative merits of the cloisonné enamels of China and Japan. It has been maintained that Japanese productions look sombre and flimsy, and that the advantage is with the Chinese in restful solidity, as well as depth, purity, and harmony of tone. The criticism appears just so long as Japan is represented solely by the works of the school founded by Kaji Tsunekichi and maintained by his pupils and successors down to the year 1880. But at the latter date the Japanese expert entered an entirely new field where he completely distanced his Chinese rival. The artists of the two countries now work on lines so different that accurate comparison is scarcely possible. But it must not be assumed that the Japanese expert would find difficulty in adopting the Chinese methods. There has been practical proof to the contrary. Between the years 1850 and 1870 Maizono Genwo of Kanazawa, a pupil of Kaji Tsunekichi and subsequently of a Chinese expert in Nagasaki, produced several specimens of cloisonné enamels in the pure Chinese style. They were of small dimensions, chiefly sake-cups and bowls; the cloisons were of gold or silver, and the colour and quality of the paste as well as the general technique were indistinguishable from the finest Chinese work. Some experts of the present time, also, have conceived the idea of adding the Chinese style to their various accomplishments and have succeeded thoroughly.
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