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The man at the end of the room, before the glass-doored cabinet, is Mr. Namikawa, whose name and fame are known to connoisseurs in ceramics all around the world.  His workmen whom you see so absorbed in their task are experts, thoroughly trained not only in the delicate manipulations of their craft but also in the theory of design.  There is here no such thing as careless haste; the aim of the establishment is not to produce a large output but to produce ware that is thoroughly beautiful in design and absolutely perfect in execution.

The foundation of each piece is copper.  The design is etched on the copper and then etched lines——marvellously intricate and complex in many cases,——are outlined with the fine, ribbon-shaped wires, each bit of wire measured and bent beforehand and exactly fitted to its place, first cemented there, and later fused with the copper along the contact-edges so as to form practically a part of the metal body.  This gives the effect of marking the design in delicate, raised lines of gold, silver and copper.  Next, the spaces between the raised lines, larger or smaller as the case may be, and always varying beautifully in size, shape and proportion, are filled with colored enamels, many of them special inventions of Mr. Namikawa.  Each enamel must be fired in the kiln to fix it and when all the outlined spaces (often there are thousands of them on the surface of a single vase or casket) have been filled with enamels of harmonious hues and values, the vase as a whole undergoes a long series of rubbings and burnishings and polishings. 

So much of the detail is microscopically small, it is not strange that some of these men have to wear spectacles about their work. 

(See Scidmore's "Jinrikisha Days in Japan," Rein's "Art Industries of Japan," Chamberlain's "Things Japanese," etc.)

From Notes of Travel, No.8, copyright, 1904, by Underwood & Underwood.


Expert Workmen Creating Cloisonné Ware; Kyoto, Japan.

Ouvriers Habiles que Créent des Cloisonnés; Kioto, Japon.

Geschichte Arbeiter beim Verzieren von Kupfergeräten; Kioto, Japan.

Obreros Diestros Creando la Vajilla de Mesa Cloisonné; Kioto, Japón.

Skickliga arbetare smyckande kopparvaror; Kyoto Japan.

Опытные мастера надъ работаю клуазонне товаровъ; Кіото, Японія.