The Kibo Foundation - The Nasser D.Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, Meiji No Takara, Treasures of Imperial Japan - 1995

The Nasser D.Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, Meiji No Takara, Treasures of Imperial Japan, Selected Essays,Volume I, 210 pages,and Lacquer,Part I,Volume IV, 255 pages, The Kibo Foundation,1995

The Khalili Collection of Japanese Art is a private collection of decorative art from Meiji-era (1868–1912) Japan, assembled by the British-Iranian scholar, collector and philanthropist Nasser D. Khalili. Its 1,400 art works include metalwork, enamels, ceramics, lacquered objects, and textile art, making it comparable only to the collection of the Japanese imperial family in terms of size and quality. The Meiji era was a time when Japan absorbed some Western cultural influences and used international events to promote its art, which became very influential in Europe. Rather than covering the whole range of Meiji-era decorative art, Khalili has focused on objects of the highest technical and artistic quality. Some of the works were made by artists of the imperial court for the Great Exhibitions of the late 19th century. The collection is one of eight assembled, published, and exhibited by Khalili.
Although the collection is not on permanent public display, its objects are lent to cultural institutions and have appeared in many exhibitions from 1994 onwards. Exhibitions drawing exclusively from the collection have been held at the British Museum, Israel Museum, Van Gogh Museum, Portland Museum, Moscow Kremlin Museums, and other institutions worldwide.

The collection is one of eight assembled by Nasser D. Khalili, each of which is considered among the most important in its field. Three of them include works from Japan: the collection of Japanese art, the Khalili Collection of Kimono, and the Khalili Collection of Enamels of the World. Khalili observed that Japanese arts were less well-documented than European arts of the same period, despite being technically superior: "Whilst one could argue it is relatively easy to replicate a Fabergé, to replicate the work of the Japanese master is nigh on impossible." As well as assembling these collections, Khalili founded the Kibo Foundation (from the Japanese word for "hope") to promote the study of art and design of the Meiji era, publishing scholarship about the collection and its historical context.

MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Selected Essays
VOLUME I
Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley with contributions by Gunhild Avitabile, Ellen P. Conant, Rupert Faulkner, Hida Toyojiro, Janet Hunter, Anna Jackson and Sato Doshin
Published 1995

This collection of six illustrated essays provides essential background information on the history of the Meiji period (1868–1912). Janet Hunter of the London School of Economics describes the drastic changes brought by the Meiji revolution.

Sato Doshin of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music analyses the Meiji bureaucrats’ efforts to promote the craft industries, and Hida Toyojiro of the National Museum of Modern Art investigates the motivations and working methods of Japanese entrepreneurs.
The next two essays, by Gunhild Avitabile and Ellen Conant, celebrate the lives of two Westerners, the German Gottfried Wagener and the Irishman Captain Frank Brinkley, who profoundly influenced the course of Meiji-period craft industries.

The last essay, by Rupert Faulkner and Anna Jackson of the Victoria and Albert Museum, explores the formation of that museum’s extensive Japanese holdings during the 1870s and 1880s.
This volume will serve as an invaluable starting-point for the further study of the Meiji period and its art.

Details
210 pages; fully illustrated in colour; 40 x 30 cm; hardback with slipcase; 1995; ISBN: 978-1-874780-01-4
Meiji No Takara – Treasures of Imperial Japan

Lacquer Part One,VOLUME IV

Authors/Contributors: Oliver Impey, Malcolm Fairley and Joe Earle with contributions by Goke Tadaomi, Julia Hutt and Edward Wrangham

Published 1995, fully illustrated in colour; 40 x 30 cm; hardback with slipcase; ISBN: 978-1-874780-04-5
Due to strong continuities of type and style in this most characteristically Japanese of arts, the first of the two parts making up this volume includes several pieces dating from the 17th to the 19th century.

The revival of the classical style is covered in depth, with major works by such revered figures as Nakayama Komin (1808–70) and Shirayama Shosai (1853–1923) and there is a large group of examples of shibayama work which combines lacquer with other materials to create a rich and exotic effect.

The centrepiece of the Collection is an extravagantly decorated cabinet by Harui Komin (b. 1869) presented by the Japanese Crown Prince to the future King Edward VIII of England in 1921.
An introductory essay by Julia Hutt of the Victoria and Albert Museum chronicles the development of lacquer in response to Western demand, while Edward Wrangham, one of the world’s foremost lacquer collectors, contributes an article on the Rimpa style.