FROM painting to ceramics, with kabuki costumes, inro and bronzes in between, this catalogue to a current exhibition at the British Museum is an exuberant celebration of what happens when there are no artificial barriers between “fine” and “applied art” and a shock to anyone who thinks that Japanese decoration is minimalist. The term kazari in Japanese refers both to objects used for decoration and to their “display in specific settings and contexts”.
With contributions by leading scholars in Japanese art studies, the catalogue is organised into six chronological and thematic sections and offers lovely examples of art from the Muromachi (1392-1573), Momoyama (1573-1615), and Edo (1615-1868) periods. A fine collection of fully described paintings, glass, ceramics, metalwork, lacquer and textiles from world collections.
Japan in full colour…
Kazari: Decoration and Display in Japan: 15th-19th Centuries, edited by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, published by The British Museum Press. ISBN 0714126365 £24.99sb
