Japanese Cloisenne from Stephen W Fisher Collection
February 14, 2010 - May 9, 2010 | 10:00am - 5:00pm
The Walters Art Museum
600 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
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Cloisonné enamel works have been produced in China, Europe and the Near East for hundreds of years, but this
art form reached its technical and aesthetic peak with the later 19th-century Japanese masters. Working with thin
strips of precious metals, cloisonné artists formed designs on surfaces of metal objects with patterns drawn from
the natural world, Asian decorative traditions and their imaginations. These patterns were filled with enamel
pastes and fired in small kilns. The glass-like enamel would melt and fill the minute spaces between gold, silver
or brass strips, creating images of refinement and beauty. This exhibition will include approximately 125 of the
finest Japanese works from Baltimore?s Stephen W. Fisher collection of cloisonné enamels. With works by
masters, such as Namikawa Yasuyuki, Namikawa Sosuke and Ando Jubei, this exhibition offers a rare
opportunity to experience the finest in cloisonné enamel.