Message #50673

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Steven,
   
      I agree with you. But also, we are talking about Japanese cloisonne from ca. 1870 to 1930. And the Japanese after 1858, went all out accepting Western technological advances - their government actually imported top tech people and bought the best tech stuff they could. While the Qing Court fought the introduction of Western advances tooth and nail.

     So of course the Japanese technology was superior; but their style was much more understated and elegant, where Chinese tended to be more stylized and visually 'heavy'.

     I don't really know why the Chinese didn't use the 'goldstone' glass in their cloisonne; they certainly had it - look at all the glass bottles with goldstone glass inclusions (in my 1987 catalogue, #4 and #8; but I had at least 3 more in my collection; and there are a few in almost every auction).
Best,
Shabbat Shalom,
Joey