Research Catalog

Art, tea, and industry : Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui circle

Title: Art, tea, and industry : Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui circle / Christine M.E. Guth.
Author: Guth, Christine.
Publication: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©1993.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	N7352 .G83 1993	Off-site

Details

Description

xvi, 231 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color); 25 cm

Summary

In this illustrated book Christine Guth examines the intimate relationship between art collecting, the tea ceremony, and business through the activities of Masuda Takashi (1848-1938), the highly charismatic director of the Mitsui conglomerate whose opulent life and passionate pursuit of art continue to influence new generations of aspiring business magnates in Japan. An elaborate social ritual in which the worlds of business and art collecting intersected, the tea ceremony guided Masuda in amassing the finest collection of Sino-Japanese art in the early Japanese industrial era. Guth's exploration of his aesthetic ideas deepens our understanding of not only the formation of the canon of Japanese art but also the role of art in the ideology of early modern Japan. At a time when there were few art museums in Japan and Japanese art was becoming internationally known, Masuda's tea gatherings functioned as a salon where his colleagues, other collectors, and art dealers could view, discuss, and handle works of art. Under his influence, art collecting and mastery of the tea ceremony became integral parts of the business training and activities of Mitsui executives. Masuda's collection was rich in calligraphy, silk painting, lacquer, and ceramics, but it was especially noted for its Buddhist painting and sculpture. These works, which were dispersed after World War II, are now in museums and private collections throughout Japan and the United States.

Subject

Genre/Form

Books.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

The lacquer writing box. A cosmopolitan education ; Career in foreign trade ; Art collector Kido Takayoshi ; The lacquer writing box. -- Art collecting and chanoyu. The artistic requirements of chanoyu ; The taste for karamono ; Wabi taste ; Courtly taste ; Tori awase ; Grand tea gatherings. -- A taste for tea. Chanoyu in the early Meiji era ; Masuda Kokutoku and Kashiwagi Ken'ichiro ; Yasuda Zenjiro and Inoue Kaoru ; Masuda and the Enshu tradition. -- From temple to tearoom. Traditional attitudes toward Buddhist art collecting ; Emile Guimet and Machida Hisanari ; Ernest Fenollosa ; Inoue Kaoru and Dan Takuma ; The Daishi kai (I) -- The new daimyo. The battle for art ; Art, tea, and company ; The Daishi kai (II) -- National treasures. Art collecting and cultural nationalism ; The threat of foreign collectors ; Ernest Fenollosa and Charles Freer ; Contributions to cultural causes. -- Appendix A: Acquisition and distribution of Japanese art abroad. -- Appendix B: Major collectors.

ISBN

0691032068
9780691032061

LCCN

92016173

OCLC

ocm25831966
25831966
SCSB-9147606

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library