Kyoto Cloisonné

Kyoto Shippō (cloisonné enamel ware) was born in the Momoyama period. Although the enameling technique was used to make the sliding-door handles and decorative nail covers of the Katsura Rikyū Imperial Villa in Kyoto constructed in early Edo period, the technique was not widely known at the time. It was not until the Meiji period that shippō became regularly produced. It is said that the technique known as yūsen-shippō (wire cloisonné enamel) which adorns the entire surface of vases or incense burners was introduced during the Tenpō era in the latter half of the Edo period. Kaji Tsunekichi (1803-1883), son of a feudal retainer of Owari Domain took a Dutch wire enamel vessel apart to understand the technique, thus leading to the beginning of wire cloisonné enameling in Japan. 

How is wire cloisonné enameling done? First, the basic design is drawn on the base vessel (copper, silver, ceramic, etc.). Silver wire is then placed along the outlines of the drawing and glass glaze is poured within the outlines. The vessel is then fired and polished. A copper vessel is used in this example, but during the Meiji period copper vessels were also mainly used. The glaze will drip down during firing if too much is applied at once, so it is important to apply only a small amount of glaze before firing and repeat this process many times over — a process that requires great skills and patience. As the process is quite complex, it must have been difficult to explain it in the past also. In addition to finished objects like vases and incense burners and containers, many samples showing the process of the production were also made oriented toward foreign countries to explain about the technique during the Meiji period, when the exporting of cloisonné ware was at its peak. The sample shown here is also one of such made at the time.

Namikawa’s workshop specialized in producing luxury vessels and objects. Selected artisans worked under divisions but Namikawa himself ensured the firing was properly done. The small bottles seen in the back contained glazes. At the workshop delicate, unique designs were produced using delicate wire embedding technique and various glazes. Today, the Namikawa Cloisonné Museum stands where the workshop once stood and visitors can get a glimpse of how cloisonné ware was once produced here.

Besides Namikawa there were also other cloisonné artists from Kyoto, including Inaba Shichiho (1849-1931) of Kin’unken. At the time there were many cloisonné workshops gathering on the eastern side of Sanjō Ōhashi and most of them produced items for exporting. 

Cloisonné ware was first and mostly produced in Owari. This pair of vases were made by Kawade Shibataro who worked as the head of the factory of Andō cloisonné store, an old establishment that continues to produce cloisonné ware today. The design seen on these vases depict a bird aiming to catch a cicada. At the top of the vases is the imperial chrysanthemum emblem. Luxury cloisonné items were often purchased by the imperial family and given as gifts to diplomatic envoys or rewards for meritorious vassals. It is believed that these vases were gifts as such.

The Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Musuem located at Sannenzaka close to Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto holds Japan’s best collection of pre-modern shippō cloissoné objects, including those by Kyoto’s Namikawa, Tokyo’s Namikawa, and various works of Owari shippō ware. Visitors will be able to imagine what it was like back then. While it is unfortunate that the delicate skills for making shippō cloisonné ware are gradually dying out and only very few people are patient enough to spend time to create the craft, the technique continues to survive today, especially in Owari. One can discern the tradition of the technique from works by individual artists or from accessories made today.