Author: Preface by Professor Motoo Yoshimura, Introduction by Michael Dean

Publisher/Date: Barry Davies Oriental Art Ltd, London, not dated (2002)

Format/Condition: NEW hardbound book with dustjacket in near fine condition: shelfwear to dj. 9×13 inches Gilt lettering on spine, 304 pages, 116 works represented with numerous color plates of each piece.

Description: From the forword: In producing this catalogue I have tried to introduce everything possible to further enjoyment and understanding of the Japanese lacquer objects in the collection. All but five of the pieces were acquired before 1984, which has allowed much study and contemplation of the objects in the interim. Harry Davies has provided a tremendous stimulus to further thought and research during the writing. Firstly, he gave carte-blanche for production of what he wanted to be the best book we could possibly make’ on the collection of lacquer. That was, as the reader might imagine, both a wonderful challenge and a daunting obligation – especially as there was a rather tight deadline, because of the fixed date for the exhibition. It has been an extremely busy, but highly enjoyable time and I am more grateful to Barry than I can say. He has been unstinting in his drive towards his original vision of the book.

Another thing which spurred the process on was that, throughout the writing, Barry provided the assistance of his colleague Joanna Keddell, formerly one of Barry’s comrades in the gallery, now working for her own company, Corona Design. She has endured a time-consuming and sometimes fallible service oii public transport to come and go each day, and was assiduous in doing the very best she could to keep to the schedule. Most of all, she has been unfailingly dedicated to the job in hand and utterly consistent in her interest and enthusiasm for the discoveries we have made along the way. Without her help, excitement and dedication, the process of getting the information together in time would have been so much harder that I don’t like to think about it. As it is, it has been a pleasure.

Nearly all the writing, glossary and bibliography has been completed at the time of writing. We started working together on the 6th of February and it is now the 16th of March.

Friends to whom I have turned for help over the years, in order to understand the things I found, have all been unstinting in sharing their valuable information with me as I, in later years, have tried to do with others who were becoming interested in the field. I do hope that they have all enjoyed our discussions, as I have – they have always given that impression and none, to my knowledge, has ever become irritated by my persistence.

For me, Japanese art – lacquer in particular – has remained both exciting and fascinating for some thirty-five years. I have always felt privileged to be able to handle and study such wonderful examples of art and craftsmanship but as the years have passed, other related aspects of the culture have grown to be almost equally exciting. To study and enjoy only one aspect of the art or culture both limits understanding of the art itself and vastly limits the enjoyment it can provide. Joanna and I have been cramming into this book curious and unusual snippets of information about Japanese culture, attire, law, religion, superstition, trees, architecture, flowers, transport, grasses, games and pastimes, cha-no-yu, legend, technology, festivals. furniture, weaponry, seashells, medicines, heraldry, musical instruments, relations with foreigners, theatre, sake, toys. ‘foreigners’ and no doubt lots of other things, as we happened upon them. The reason is that each subject has been interesting, and each adds to the interest of the works of art – and the writing. Many of the books in my library, some of them by Westerners and some by Japanese, are by people who share a tascination tor the varied nature of Japanese society and the craftsmanship and beauty in its art and culture. I highly recommend their works to others – they have answered most of my questions about traditional Japanese society, and my searches have seldom been frustrated.

I came upon Japanese art, completely by chance, around 1965. Having been a painter for ten years, exhibiting in London. St. Ives, in Cornwall, and various other places around the country, I decided to stop painting at the time of the crisis over the Berlin wall. It is not easy to relate the precise reasons, but in general it seemed to me that painting was too slow for a world in crisis. It actually seemed then that the Russians might be coming’. I believe many other painters stopped at around the same time, for similar reasons. In addition, many of arts considered (and still consider) that, with the active encouragement of the arts establishment,’ visual art had lost its way. Throughout history, the art that has survived has always been ‘beautiful’. No matter what the concept of beauty, that has been a constant and artists, good and bad, have struggled to achieve it. That ideal has been rejected by very many of those in the field today, who seem to think that a small idea, perfectly capable of being expressed on the back of an envelope, is equally viable in terms of survival into posterity when blown up to big enough proportions, or making a startling appearance on a gallery wall. They are wrong, in my opinion. The works by Japanese lacquer artists, made between 1400 AD and the 19th century and represented in this exhibition will, I hope help to convince both artists and their audience that beauty is worth the struggle.