Books about
LACQUER
& Lacquerwork:
East and West
Koizumi,
G. Lacquer Work. A Practical Exposition of the Art of Lacquering together
with Valuable Notes for the Collector. London; Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons:
1923. The first modern, practical, English-language guide to lacquering, written by a
Japanese master of the craft, and published at the exact time that Art Deco designers and
Japanese lacquer artists were teaming up to produce some of the 20th century's most
luxurious decorative lacquer works. This elegant book includes illustrations of the
techniques employed, and also features collotype plates illustrating antique Eastern and
Western examples from the V&A's collection.
Both Koizumi, in his Introductory Note, and E.F. Strange, in his Foreword, address the issue of the various lacquering techniques and materials and their uses by various craftsmen. Additionally, Strange voices the hope that modern craftsmen and artists will make more use of lacquer to produce modern objects, a hope that was even then being answered by Art Deco designers including Eileen Gray and Jean Dunand, both of whom worked with Japanese artists. Anna Jackson, writing in the recent exhibition catalog "Art Deco, 1910-1939" (Bulfinch Press: 2003) notes that Art Deco designers were attracted to lacquer "not only by the craft of its production, but also by the richness, depth and sensuality of its surfaces... the interest in lacquer was part of a widespread taste for sumptuous surfaces and striking effects. Through its innovative use Art Deco designers absorbed and transformed a centuries-old East Asian medium into the essence of modernity".
Koizumi's book was published just as interest in this sensual medium was exploding in the West, and those great Art Deco masterpieces were being created. Hardcover. 7.5"x10", 45 pages with 11 b/w illustrations, plus 36 b/w collotype plates; elaborate gilt-decorated black cloth covers; bookplate of art historian and Connoisseur magazine editor C. Reginald Grundy. Light soil, a little wear, but a nice copy. [07347] $125.00
Also see- Orientalia
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