Inro and Other Miniature Forms of Japanese Lacquer Art by Melvin and Betty Jahss (review)

Books 367 executed in the eighteenth century of the expanding universe is used to depict Bindu, a concept of the universe, as the most minute or as the all encompassing ; unity in the infinite and the infinite in unity, perhaps an anticipation of Einstein. Astronomical observation and charting form the basis of astrological prediction, so much a part of religion and life in India. The concept that the universe comprises both its creation as well as its dissolution comes down squarely on the side of the cosmologists who maintain the continuous creation hypothesis. A dynamic pervades a process of contraction and expansion; from the invisible atom to the vastness of the universe, from the microscopic cell to the fully developed organism is the nature of creation. Unisex in its many moral and social implications engages our attention today. A similar concept is that of Siva-Parvati or the hermaphroditic idea in which male and female natures combine for a bisexual potential. Masculinity and femininity are taken to be illusory factors like body and soul. Tantra Asana seeks to unite spirit and matter towards an end of self-realization; making One of Two; the consummated human body is man and woman fused to dissolve the selves into SeF Indian art is deeply symbolic. An elaboration of gesture and pose has developed through centuries of devotion, refinement and thought till the two most powerful drives of the human organism, sex and religion, are depicted in combined and harmonious passion. Most of the paintings presented are the work of Rajput painters of the eighteenth century, a time when Imperial Mughal art was in decline. ‘Divided into two parts I create’ is the title aphorism to a pictorial section that might be considered erotic. Paradoxically, for me, these paintings are pure and innocent. Their purpose is not to titillate or debase but rather to serve as tangible guides to achieve the state of Ananda, infinitejoy, supreme bliss. The figures in the fulness of their sexuality become assexual in their completeness. The abstract drawings and paintings in their arrangement and relevance are in keeping with the aesthetic concern that inspires this publication. This i s a beautiful book. Inro and Other Miniature Forms of Japanese Lacquer Art. Melvin and Betty Jahss. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, London, 1971. 487 pp., illus. E13.50. Reviewed by: Carson I. A. Ritchie” ‘WhenJapan finallyopened her doorsto the outside world in the mid-nineteenth century,’ write the authors, ‘there emerged one of the most skilful, exquisite, and remarkable art forms ever developed by any country: that of Japanese lacquer. Today it is startling to discover that what we now consider as avant-garde in modern art-such as abstraction, impressionism, and collage-had already been perfected by Japanese lacquer artists over 300 years ago.’ This very scholarly and meticulous book is likely * 6 LeeTerrace, Blackheath, London S.E.3, England. to convince the reader that the well is not dry and that the artists of OldJapan haveas much to teach us as Van Gogh and the Goncourt brothers. It is difficult to think of anything the authors have left out. They gocarefully intothe physicaland chemical qualities of lacquer, a substance endowed with incredible qualities of permanence and imperviousness , which can be boiled in sulphuric acid or raised to a temperature of 199°Fwithout losing itscolouror shape. The very complicated technique by whichit is applied is well described, there is a chapter of very welcome clarity and brevity on its history, while a convincing family tree of the various schools of the art isdrawn. Well designed sectionsof the book deal with the netsuke and the subject matter of lacquer art. There is a biographical dictionary of more than 900 lacquer artists, reproductions of 59 signatures of representative artists and one of the best compiled bibliographies on lacquer that I have read. An interest in and appreciation of Japanese art is one of the oldest traditions in that young country, America. Did not the preoccupation of Stephen Bing, the editor of Artistic Japan with netsuke and inro excite the ridicule of Mark Twain? Appropriately enough, the authors are New Yorkers. More appropriately still, Jahss is a surgeon. The art which he and...