Lahaye K (1 results)
More imagesSawasa: Japanese Export Art in Black and Gold 1650-1800
Bruijn, M. de; Kist, B.; Craddock, P.; Hallebeek, P.; Krijgsman, R.; Lahaye, K.; Watson, H.; Williams, D.; Lange, Q. (ed.)
Language: English
Published by Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and Uitgeverij Waanders b.v., Zwolle, 1998
- Softcover
- First Edition
Seller: Jorge Welsh Books, Lisboa, PortugalJorge Welsh Books
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used - Very good
£ 75.23
£ 51.56 shippingShips from Portugal to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. English text.; Paperback.; 17 x 23 cm.; 0.4 kg.; 127 pages with colour illustrations.; Used with signs o wear on the exterior and interior. Exterior show edge wear, scuffs and scratches. Interior with minor signs of wear.; Catalogue from the exhibition 'Sawasa Japanese Ex…port Art in Black And Gold 1650-1800' held at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, November 28, 1998-February 28, 1999.; The exhibition 'Sawasa, Japanese export art in black and gold', with this accompanying publication, offers a first overview of Sawasa wares from the 17th and 18th centuries. Sawasa is the Japanese name given to artefacts made by Asian artists and craftsmen, adopting European models combined with Japanese and Chinese materials and decorative motives. This decoration consists of refined gilt relief and engravings on a lustrous lacquered surface. Until recently these artefacts were called shakudo, after the copper, gold, arsenic alloy that was used in Japan for decorative purposes among others on sword furniture. In the case of Sawasa the metal may or may not be shakudo but the black surfaces are always lacquer which is not necessarily the case with shakudo. The combination of black patinated metal with gold has a long history, going back to the second millennium BC in the Eastern Mediterranean. From there the technique spread to Italy and India. Later the metal was adopted in other parts of Asia. Sawasa wares are the result of cultural interaction between Asia and Europe. As a consequence of global trade in the 17th century mutual interest arose in the peculiarities of each other's culture. The Dutch and other Europeans brought rare objects back from their travels which whetted the taste for exotic rarities. At the same time in the Eurasian metropolis Batavia, now Jakarta, a wealthy governmental and commercial elite arose which had access to the production centres of these transcultural artefacts and the means to acquire them. The earliest sawasa objects are sword and hanger hilts and tobacco boxes ordered in Japan from Batavia. Sawasa soon became fashionable in wealthy circles in Batavia and to a lesser extent in Europe. Sawasa demonstrates not only the intercontinental commercial connections created by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) but also mutual cultural influences between Europe and Asia.
