1993.86.15.A-B.FA Koro and cover

The arts of Japan during the last half of the 19th century experienced a momentous change when nearly two hundred fifty years of isolation from Western influences ended with the arrival of U.S. Admiral Perry in 1853. In the rush to adopt and assimilate Western ways, many Japanese customs were nearly swept aside, but fortunately artistic traditions of the past often prevailed over the desire to modernize. Now, however, in place of the ancient system of government and aristocratic patronage, artists and artisans were producing items primarily for export. As a result, much of their output was influenced by western taste.  

While decorative arts such as metal and lacquerwares were direct descendants of Edo-period skills, the art of cloisonné was a relatively new industry. Cloisonné makers of anything of significant scale are not recorded in Japan until the 1830s. Nevertheless the craft developed at a remarkable level during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when three major workshops of cloisonné enamels were located in Nagoya. This large covered koro, or incense burner, has been attributed to the Nagoya workshop of Ando Jubei.

The decorative program of the koro is very intricate. Pheasants under a flowering cherry tree intertwined with wisteria, on one side, and pigeons and sparrows in a maple tree, on the reverse, are worked in many colors on a dark blue ground.  The perforated cover, through which smoke escaped, features butterflies on a ground of scrolls and flowers, while the shaped foot is decorated with bands of flowers and geometric patterns above large butterflies.

Ando company (Meiji period): DMA

Japan (nation): TGN: 1000120

Nagoya (Japan): TGN: 7004736

cloisonné: AAT: 300053778

enamel (fused coating): AAT: 300014910

metalworking: AAT: 300053946

gold (metal): AAT: 300011021

silver (metal): AAT: 300011029

Meiji: AAT: 300018567

birds (animals): AAT: 300266506

butterflies (general): AAT: 300417320

censers (ceremonial containers): AAT: 300198814

exports: AAT: 300252722

floral patterns: AAT: 300010135

geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213

leaves (plant components): AAT: 300400479

pigeons (birds/animals/general term): AAT: 300310557

pheasants (family): AAT: 300310512

trees (plants): AAT: 300132410

By 1991: The John R. Young Collection [1]

1993: Dallas Museum of Art Foundation for the Arts, The John R. Young Collection, gift of M. Frances and John R. Young [2]

The main source for this provenance is the object summary dated July 25, 1995, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records object file. Exceptions and supporting documentation are noted. 

[1] See Oliver Impey and Malcom Fairley, The Dragon King of the Sea: Japanese decorative art of the Meiji period from the John R. Young Collection (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1991), 44-45. 

[2] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.

13315198: UMO

The Decorative Arts of Meiji Japan: The John R. Young Collection 

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