Priscila Lena Farias / Anna Calvera Marcos da Costa ... - Blucher

Eastern craft in Orientalism and Modern Design
The Persian carpet and the ottoman, the hanging lamp and the
genuine Caucasian dagger. Behind the heavy, gathered Khilim
tapestries the master of the house has orgies with his share
certificates, feels himself the Eastern merchant, the indolent
pasha in the caravanserai of otiose enchantment, until that
dagger in its silver sling above the divan puts an end, one fine
afternoon, to his siesta and himself.
This description elicits images of Oriental products as representations
of a decadent life. The interior was a private universe like
a dream of “Phantasmagoria” written in his essay Paris: capital
of the nineteenth century (1939). Because the Orient was different
as an “other” in contemporary capital culture, it could be
their means of escape from the real world.
Design by Dresser: Exoticism as representation of
craftsmanship
As mentioned above, to seek refuge from mechanization
showed other aspects as well. As mechanization and mass
production increased, so too did the interest in decorative art
in handcrafts of the medieval age. Christopher Dresser (1834–
1904), for example, was interested in traditional Japanese
design: grotesque in the shape of man or animal seen in the
cabinet or vase. He also regarded it as design free from Western
artistic canons that were believed to be a pure, childlike acceptance
of nature. His design of the chair also reflects this idea.
He designed cabinets that had stenciled frogs, flowers, fish, and
birds on black (fig. 2, left) that were inspired by Maki-e, which is
Japanese lacquer sprinkled with gold or silver powder on a black
surface of Urushi. The height and width of the seat, back, and
legs varied. The chair had a geometrical pattern on the low seat,
and the back was derived from Japanese craft (fig. 2, right).
The longing for Eastern craft could be equated to the Arts and
Crafts Movement of England that respected medieval craftsmanship.
Dresser studied graphical patterns of animals and
plants seen in the wallpaper designed by William Morris. Various
patterns in his design can be regarded not only as a representation
of the Orient, but also as creativity of the past. This ambiguity
signifies a point of contact between the East and the West.
He discovered the past of the West in the Orient.
As previously mentioned, Chippendale created furniture as a
collage of Chinese elements. It was intended not to reproduce
original Chinese furniture but rather to emphasize the different
image as an “other.” Not only did Dresser reproduce it, but he
also discovered past Western creativity in Japanese craft and
designed the furniture inspired by it.
3. Eastern craft in modern design
Loss of traditional design and philosophy in Japan
The Japanese craft that inspired Dresser is not exactly traditional.
Orientalism in the nineteenth century resulted in Japanese
craft being produced for commercial and export purposes. Established
in 1874, Kiriu Kosho Kuwaisha was the first Japanese
Figure 2. Stenciled frogs and flowers of cabinet and low seat chair designed
by Christopher Dresser.
manufacturing and trading company, and it encouraged the
Japanese industries until 1891. Their products, which ranged
from paintings to furniture, were extremely decorative, portraying
to the West a rare exoticism. For example, the cabinet had
relief of bamboo at the front door. Crown molding like pediment,
which was not provided with the traditional Japanese cabinet,
were in the shape of many birds. Orientalism also changed
conventional philosophy. Japanese products had conceptually
unified several types of products as Odougu, a concept that
included tools, implements, instruments, utensils, kits, outfits,
and so forth. Further, art and craft had not been conceptually
separated. There were differences between Jotemono and Getemono.
The former means a refined product that is elaborately
decorated; the latter means a plain product having no decoration.
However, these unifications were lost when the western
concept of “craft” was introduced.
Birth of modern design and philosophy in Japan: Harmony
of various cultures
Crafts, an export industry, were still a vital slogan of the government
in the late 1920s. Product designer Toyoguchi Katsuhei
(1905–1991) established Keiji-Kobo (Workshop for Physicality)
with others in 1928. The main purpose of their activity was
the standardization of the whole life space, and it led the postwar
Japanese industrial design movement. Although Keiji-Kobo
spontaneously disappeared in the 1930s, Toyoguchi attempted
to recover new aesthetics that fit the standardization. He said
that our lives should comprise a formative mixture and “the
elements of the mixture should be old, new, ethnic, mechanic,
handmade, dynamic, and static, and must be unified by a
sense.” His masterpiece, the “Spoke Chair” (1962) (fig. 3, left)
shows his philosophy with its thick legs so as not to damage
the traditional Japanese rush floor and a low and wide seat that
is in line with the Japanese custom of sitting cross-legged on
the floor. In the style of English local chairs, this chair also has a
simplified Windsor back. The above characteristics illustrate the
harmony of cultures as he described.
The Spoke Chair, compared with Dresser’s chair, has no decorative
pattern on its surface and has no intention of showing
exoticism or craftsmanship. The Spoke Chair offered a harmonious
blending of West and East, creating a practical lifestyle for
the general user.
The same concepts are evident in works by other designers. In
Design Frontiers: Territiories, Concepts, Technologies 473