Slayerwulfe: Museum __ Silk Tapestry__by Nippon Tapestry

http://sites.google.com/site/slayerwulfe6ragnar0k/

Always a work in progress,that can never be completed.

Original designs of Teishu Koyu, this is from a manuscript dated 1724 and list design,glaze and dimensions of 450 illustrated pieces that were distributed by the Dutch East India Company. 

The red square is known as 'jewel' in decorative or as a concept but is never an imitation or fake because it's too dishonest.               

The term tapestry in relation to ceramics is extremely inaccurate, as expressed by those claiming to be knowledgeable or expert. In textiles, tapestry is the application of embroidered image or design,on a previously existing material. Tapestry may also be painted onto the cloth, such as designs on silk, the oriental concept of this. I realize especially on the internet, you will encounter  results or sites that claim tapestry is done on a loom only, this implies that technology is  responsible for true tapestry.  What is most important and definitive to either side of the argument, does the word tapestry exist before the technology of this loom.

 light source from inside clearly? shows the silk cloth transferred onto the glaze,on this piece. On the pieces of slip cast Nippon, that are incorrectly called tapestry there is no sewn design that corresponds to the painted decoration. The reason is very simple, no cloth of any kind was ever applied to any slip cast item, ever. What you perceive to be the impression of some form of cloth, is in the mold itself. Consider the Nippon tapestry where the surface consist of  raised bumps, what type of cloth could leave this impression, let's say with a piece of modeling clay, pressed onto the cloth.

The silk cloth has left marks on the cobalt that was fired before any other color or decoration was applied. 

This cobalt area is less than 1/8th of an inch (6 /64 ths ) across and shows approx. where the silk was applied in the central area. relative to top and bottom.

The cover for this jar is also totally hand formed. Consider the recurve and also the rim that holds the lid in place,could only be formed by hand,and it is well done, showing the skill of the potter. 

This interior view and the one below show the manufacture of this piece, where the sides contact the bottom, just inside the edge it has the appearance of being raised, the preformed cylinder pressed down onto and also into the bottom and then trimmed.

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On this particular piece of Nippon (and whether it's Nippon or not also appears to be questionable) the only part of the decoration that is other than the country of origin, is the transfer on the cover.  You may have guessed then my reason for showing some of the original drawings of a potter of 1724, what determines or defines Nippon as an era. Mass production for export to the whole world, by individuals. Decoration that is not traditional to Japan, but what appeals to the European or American. Techniques in manufacture, such as slip cast, that are without any technical merit or skill. Over
decorated to appeal to the child like mind of the prudential masses, that decorative determines worth then the more the better.

That the material that left this impression, is silk or not I am not qualified to say. I am going to stay with silk simply because I'm unable to see any other. That I'm actually seeing it all has totally amazed me. I had always considered the whole thing of wrapping cloth around an object and firing it to be just a hoax. To accomplish this there will be some ash, and some of it retained on the glaze. Adding ash to a glaze should effect some change,  I'm not seeing any evidence of it.
The very organic nature of this material may have simply fired out which is a common occurrence many times.
Atoms are not going to be changed in the chemical reaction of heat, but different compounds are formed. I have no idea what silk is chemically so I can't even guess what new compound is created. I am sure of this, the use of other textiles is not going to work. It's not possible to wrap a slip soaked piece of cloth around bisque fired slip cast,without making
anything other than a mess. The greatest evidence against this is the shapes of the items themselves. An experiment, a dishtowel or sheet and a two liter soft drink bottle. Try to wrap this around the bottle, making contact with a portion of the curved surface. To understand how ridiculous it really is, try soaking it first in a soupy paste of flour and water.

This small covered jar is actually the only documented piece where this process has ever taken place.
It also very likely the only true piece of this work you will ever see, also the only known piece of
totally hand formed Nippon. If you want to be a serious collector, you have to get serious. Books
about antiques are not about the actual manufacturing of items, how it was made is the most important
fact to understand, that you do understand it. Buy the right books, Bernard Leach A potter's book.
Glenn C. Nelson  A Potter's Handbook. For reference Warren Cox Pottery and Porcelain Two Volume Set.
any books by Bernard or Bernard and Therle Hughes. R. L. Hobson. John P. Cushion Animals in Pottery
and Porcelain. Geoffrey A Godden F.R.S.A. British Pottery and Porcelain. Joseph Aronson Encyclopedia 
of Furniture and also Furniture and Decoration.  The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Antiques Hamlyn pub.

For reference on Nippon, understand the VOC first. They were there 200 yrs. before Morimura Bros.
The Chinese were there much earlier than that. Emil Hannover mentions Nippon without calling it that.
He mentions wares from the many small family owned and operated potteries being shipped to Tokyo
to be decorated. It appears these decorating studios first appeared about 1863. I'm not sure if it was
Hannover or Brinkley who said on visiting one of the decorating studios that the pieces looked like
they were decorated with flat oil paint. Sir Harry Garner adds this "In the first half of the nineteenth
century blue and white eggshell porcelain was made at Seto and other factories. Towards the end of
the century the introduction of European production methods caused the disappearance of the small
family-owned potteries working on traditional lines and replaced them by modern factories which
produced meretricious wares in competition with the west."

For me this is the greatest piece of Nippon I will ever encounter, It is also great for all of you as it alerts you in what to look for. Something that is on an individual basis not mass produced. copies of an original that only exist as something to make copies (a mold)of.  If any of you are now able to find something I would really like to hear about it.

 This is the other piece I have retained for my collection. The body formed on a potters wheel, the base and handles press molded.

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Imperial  Teto   Yaki   Okan    Obviously? something lost in translation, or is this just marketing to make it sound interesting.

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14 inches high at least it's not slip cast
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Because I started out talking about the VOC I'm going to end with it also. This piece is early 1680's , It was a part of my collection but I gave it away as a wedding gift. It it Japanese of course, some of what the Dutch were transporting to Europe. How can you possibly understand Nippon without understanding what came before. Strange ?

  More later