The Glorious World of Yabu Meizan : Comparing the Heisei Memorial Art Gallery and Khalili Collections

Session II : Modernizing Craft and Fashion

The life of potter Yabu Meizan (1853-1934) closely followed the historical course of Japan’s modern export ceramic industry. He was a craftsman and entrepreneur representing the modernity of his day who made and sold Satsuma ware pottery in Osaka. As the recipient of numerous awards at western world expositions, Yabu Meizan’s works were highly appraised, and attracted numerous new customers. As a result, many of his creations are today proudly displayed in Western museums as representative of Japanese ceramic works produced following the advent of Japan’s Modern Age. I will cover the reasons for this success while describing many of the features of Meizan’s works, and what relationship these characteristics have with the Japaneseness inherent in his creations. One facet of Yabu Meizan’s high assessment is the quality of the illustrations painted by his workshop on small porcelain pieces. One of the first books to feature these elaborate paintings, and one of the first to introduce Yabu Meizan’s works to the world, was The Nasser D. Khalili Collection: Japanese Art That Crossed the Sea, published by Dōhōsha in 1995 as Vol. 5, Ceramic Art, based on the Nasser D. Khalili (1945-) Collection, which introduced 103 pieces of Meizan’s works. Last year, the author released the book, The Glorious World of Yabu Meizan, which features 147 pieces from the Heisei Memorial Art Collection. I will be comparing individual pieces from the two collections, highlighting 103 pieces from the Khalili Collection and 147 pieces from the Heisei Collection, in order to provide a detailed analysis of the transition of these pieces, their motifs, and how Meizan’s works were exhibited at the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition, as well as their appraisal in other countries.