HARVARD ART MUSEUMS RECEIVE EHRENKRANZ COLLECTION, ONE OF THE FINEST PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF JAPANESE LACQUER IN THE WEST

Released: September 17, 1997

Through the generous gift of Elaine Ehrenkranz, the Harvard University Art Museums have acquired a fifty-percent fractional interest in The Elaine Ehrenkranz Collection of Japanese Lacquer Boxes. The Art Museums will acquire the remaining fifty percent interest in the collection through a series of gifts over the next several years. The Ehrenkranz collection, which is now housed in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard, includes fifty-six pieces of the highest quality, representing various types and techniques of later Japanese lacquer (c. 15th-19th centuries). This important acquisition gives the Art Museums one of the most elegant and diverse assemblages of such material outside of Japan.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have received this extraordinary gift," commented Robert D. Mowry, curator of Chinese art and head of the Department of Asian Art. "Mrs. Ehrenkranz's philanthropic gesture represents a tremendous addition to our already renowned Asian collections and a real boon to our teaching programs. Until now, Japanese lacquer had been a notable weakness here at Harvard. Redressing that weakness, Mrs. Ehrenkranz's generous gift will greatly enhance our exhibition and educational programs, thus adding immeasurably to our visitors' appreciation of this important subject."

Over the past three decades, Elaine Ehrenkranz-a gifted painter in her own right-used her keen aesthetic sensitivities to form a remarkable and representative collection of Japanese lacquer boxes. She quickly realized that very early Japanese lacquers (those of the seventh through mid-fourteenth centuries) were extremely rare and, when available, prohibitively expensive. Thus she decided to assemble a group of later Japanese lacquers-ranging in date from the Muromachi through Edo periods (circa fifteenth though mid-nineteenth centuries)-collecting only works of great beauty and the highest quality.

The fifty-six boxes donated to Harvard by Mrs. Ehrenkranz have been published together in a catalogue by Barbra Teri Okada entitled 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. The pieces were also featured in a special exhibition at New York City's Japan Society in Winter 1995-1996, a show that garnered much public acclaim and extremely favorable reviews (see New York Times Sunday, November 12, 1995).

East Asian lacquer is derived from the sap of the lac tree-Rhus verniciflua. The sap is systematically harvested, refined, colored, and applied in multiple thin layers over a (typically) wooden base. Each layer of lacquer must be allowed to slowly "dry" (actually hardened in an enzyme-catalyzed oxidation process) inside a special cabinet which maintains a fairly even and high relative humidity. Even after the long refining process, however, lacquer is a highly toxic substance which can cause an extreme allergic reaction (something akin to poison oak) in those who come in contact with the viscous liquid, so that Japanese lacquer artists must take precautions to "inoculate" themselves by ingesting small amounts of lacquer each day. Once completely hardened, the lacquer surface is inert and will cause no adverse response even when one eats or drinks out of it. The finished lacquered object is essentially coated in natural "plastic"-rendered water-, acid-, and heat-resistant. The evolution of this ingenious but labor-intensive technology allowed East Asian artists to create beautiful and durable yet light-weight objects for their most discerning patrons.

Although the early Japanese undoubtedly learned about lacquer from immigrants from the Asian continent-the earliest lacquers in China date to the Neolithic period, perhaps 5,000-4,000 B.C. -the later development of the medium in Japan represents one of the most amazing marriages of technical mastery and aesthetic sophistication in world history. One major Japanese innovation was the development of maki-e -various techniques of sprinkling tiny shavings of flattened, cut metal onto wet lacquer-which produced designs of great depth and luminosity and proved to be enduringly popular. The Ehrenkranz Collection boasts many important maki-e pieces, including a lovely late 16th-century "Scroll Box" (1996.242.12) covered with alternating lozenge-shaped fields of contrasting sprinkled-gold and black lacquer enlivened with delicate floral crests and designs. This sumptuous piece is a prime example of Kodai-ji lacquer, a style which became popular with Japan's ruling elite during the warlike Momoyama period (1568-1603).

Other new lacquer techniques were developed by the innovative Edo-period artist Ogawa Haritsu (1663-1747), who is well represented in the Ehrenkranz Collection. The grace and understatement of the natural wood-grained "Document Box" (1996.242.24) decorated with a fish-shaped gong, two Buddhist texts, and a ritual implement called a vajra, belie the effort that went into its making. Haritsu was a consummate craftsman in many media who pioneered the technique of inlaying custom-made ceramic pieces into lacquer. This box combines multiple built-up layers of lacquer and intricate inlays of ceramic, lead, and tortoiseshell. On the interior of the box's lid a ceramic inlay representing a single pink-tinged lotus petal is seen atop a decaying lotus leaf of lead-colored lacquer. Haritsu's display of virtuosity is simultaneously an eloquent statement of the Buddhist concept of the evanescence of all living things.

Another exquisite Ehrenkranz lacquer, an "Inkstone Box" (1996.242.28) intended to hold various small writing tools, possesses a breathtaking cover decorated with plump, curvilinear cherry blossoms suspended above a woven zigzag fence. The flowers are represented by identical cutouts of silver foil which have been applied to the lacquer surface against a ground of delicate sprinkled gold. These appliqués stand in stark contrast to the pleasingly graphic herringbone pattern of the golden fence and its three-dimensional lead-inlay supports. The sweeping design spills over the edges of the box-one of the hallmarks of very fine Japanese lacquer.

One final Ehrenkranz piece, an "Inkstone Box" (1996.242.55) with a whimsical design of two inro (medicine box) ensembles, reflects a completely different aesthetic vision. Whereas most of the preceding examples were aristocratic Japanese lacquers-refined pieces custom made for the courtly or military elite-this resplendent box reflects instead the nouveau-rich aspirations of a merchant from the middle-class, a segment of Japanese society that became more prominent and influential over the course of the Edo period (1615-1868). Besides the striking trompe l'oeil effect that the artist has attained in the minute depiction of the inro, this box is completely covered with a bombastic, abstract pattern achieved by applying multiple layers of colored lacquer and gold foil over a thick base coat impressed with various small natural objects such as pine needles and fern heads. The effect is spectacular-and quite unorthodox-resulting in an incandescent glow that no-doubt shocked the sensibilities of the established nobility, whose grandeur the newly-affluent urban merchants sought to challenge.

"We are overjoyed that so avid and discerning a collector as Elaine Ehrenkranz has seen fit to honor the Art Museums in this way," said Anne Rose Kitagawa, Harvard's assistant curator for Japanese Art. "Mrs. Ehrenkranz's good taste, her devotion to scholarly inquiry-exemplified by her judicious choice of boxes to represent the various lacquer types and techniques-and her extreme dedication to education and public outreach have already resulted in a number of well-received exhibitions and two fully illustrated catalogues. She has done so much to bring the exquisite but easily misunderstood craft of the Japanese lacquer artist to a wider audience. Her generous gift will allow us to plan future educational exhibitions that will demonstrate the interpenetration of Japanese artistic and literary themes in a variety of visual formats and media."

James Cuno, director of the Harvard University Art Museums marveled at the recent gift: "I think that the obvious loving care with which each box was made, the elegant formal flourishes and tiny painstaking details, really speaks to something within us that hungers for the custom crafts of old. Once one has experienced such a singular object, one begins to realize how the bland, industrial furnishings that surround us have dulled our aesthetic sensibilities." He added, "It seems strange, considering the pioneering role played by various Boston/Cambridge-area specialists in the study of Japanese art over the last century, that there have been so few recent major Japanese acquisitions. Mrs. Ehrenkranz's amazingly generous gift has inspired us all and hopefully signals the beginning of a bright new future for Japanese art in this area."

The Harvard University Art Museums plans to mount a special exhibition of the Elaine Ehrenkranz Collection of Japanese Lacquer Boxes during the early autumn of 1998.

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The Harvard University Art Museums comprise three museums (Busch-Reisinger Museum, Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum), all located on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, MA, at the intersection of Quincy Street and Broadway, adjacent to Harvard Yard. The Art Museums are open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and Sunday 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Closed holidays. Admission is $5.00; $4.00 for senior citizens; $3.00 for students; free under 18 and on Saturday mornings. The Art Museums' facilities are wheelchair accessible. For special tour reservations, please call (617) 496-8576. General tours are offered Monday through Friday from September through June. The Fogg tour is at 11:00 a.m.; the Busch-Reisinger tour is at 1:00 p.m.; and the Sackler is at 2:00 p.m.

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