This exhibition will highlight an important collection of fifty-six later Japanese lacquers given to the Art Museums by the painter/collector Elaine Ehrenkranz in 1996 and present these marvelous riches to our audience for the first time.

Focusing on one of the most elegant and diverse assemblages of such material outside of Japan, it will explore this significant decorative medium through representative examples dating from the fifteenth through the nineteenth century. The entire collection donated to Harvard has been published in a catalogue by Barbra Teri Okada titled Symbol and Substance in Japanese Lacquer: Lacquer Boxes from the Collection of Elaine Ehrenkranz (Weatherhill, 1995), which delves not only into the aesthetics and symbolism of the lacquers, but does much to explain the intricate planning, cooperation, and supreme artistry that determined their construction and elaborate decoration.

Derived from the sap of the lac tree (Rhus verniciflua), true lacquer is systematically harvested, refined, colored, and applied in multiple thin layers over a wooden base, each layer being allowed to harden slowly inside a special high-humidity cabinet before the next can be applied. In this manner, finished lacquered objects adorned with thirty or more plastic-like coatings are rendered water-, acid-, and heat-resistant. The development of this labor-intensive technology (which began in China as early as 3000 B.C.) allowed East Asian artists to create exquisite, durable luxury objects for their most discerning patrons. Later Japanese lacquer innovations-including many varieties of metal-sprinkling (maki-e), complex painting, appliqué, and burnishing techniques, and ingenious methods of inlay-represent a remarkable marriage of technical mastery and aesthetic sophistication. Japanese lacquer artists produced bold, harmonious, graphic designs of great depth and luminosity on a variety of lacquer boxes intended to hold cosmetics, mirrors, scrolls, incense, food, and gaming and writing utensils.

Cambridge, Massachusetts
September 26, 1998 through January 3, 1999
At the Arthur M. Sackler Museum

Connecticut
December 9, 2000 through February 18, 2001
Bruce Museum

Madison, Wisconsin
September 1 through November 17, 2001
Elvehjem

Poughkeepsie, New York
early September through late November
Vassar