Among the old royal families in the world, the British royal family and the Japanese royal family are the most likely to be talked about. An exhibition that reconstructs the interaction and connection between two courts belonging to east and west spanning three centuries.
On April 8, 2022, "Japan: Court and Culture" opened at the Queen Palace Of Buckingham Palace, uk, with exquisite exhibits including rare porcelain and lacquerware, early Japanese samurai armor, and embroidered screens that tell the story of more than 350 years of diplomatic and artistic exchanges between the UNITED Kingdom and Japan from King James I to the current Queen Elizabeth II.
The exhibition was described by the British organizers as "a delicate, complex and truly interesting procession of treasures." ”
For the first time, the Japanese collection of the British Royal Family is on display
The Queen's Gallery, located on the west side of Buckingham Palace, opened to the public in 1962 and has not had a separate permanent display, with one after another. All of the exhibits are from works of art and antiques from the British Royal Collection. As one of the largest and most important art collections in the world, the Collection of the British Royal Family encompasses almost all categories of decorative arts, with a collection of over 1 million objects, making it a unique and valuable record of the personal taste of the British kings and queens over the past five hundred years.
In November 2018, the Queen's Gallery hosted an exhibition on the theme of "Russia: The Royal Family and the Romanov Dynasty", which presented the political diplomacy and artistic exchanges between the UK and Russia and their royal families for nearly two hundred years. This portrait of Tsar Nicholas I, completed in 1847 by russian court painter Franz Krüger, was a diplomatic gift from Nicholas I to Queen Victoria of England.
The Royal Collection houses almost some of the finest Japanese art in the Western collection, and the history and quality of each collection is unique. This exhibition is the first attempt by the Royal Collection to extract the essence of this exquisite work of art and display it together.
The exhibition not only showcases the exquisite craftsmanship of these beautiful objects – each item reflects materials and techniques unique to Japan, as well as the local materials, techniques and traditions behind them. Together, they provide a unique insight into the world of ceremony, honor and art, thus linking the courts and cultures of England and Japan.
Those Japanese artworks that became national gifts
Several of the exhibits in this exhibition are on public display for the first time, along with new research on these collections.
This set of armor, made in 1537, became an extraordinary diplomatic gift. In terms of Japan's productivity at that time, it was not easy to produce a pair of armor. In the late Edo period, the gorgeous new-style carcass armor that existed as a samurai façade was extremely precious.
Porcelain of Japanese female figures 1690-1730
58.0 x 23.0 x 18.0 cm
The beauty of women was one of the popular themes of woodblock prints of the Edo period (1615-1868) in Japan. These fashionable female figures were soon applied to the creation of Japanese porcelain, which created an ideal image of Japanese women in gorgeous kimonos in Europe.
In Europe, Japanese porcelain was revered for its dazzling enamel decoration. In the sixteenth century, the British royal family and aristocrats set off a wave of porcelain collection. Japan closed its western passages from the 1630s onwards, and restrictions on British royal collectors such as Mary II and George IV acquired Japanese art through Dutch and Chinese merchants, and expensive lacquerware and porcelain became an established feature of the interior decoration of the imperial family.
Folding screens from about 1880 to 1900
192.5 x 73.7 x 3.2 cm
From right to left, this folding screen depicts the blossoming of flowers throughout the year in bright colors, accompanied by peacocks and peach blossoms in spring, and cranes standing under plum blossom trees in winter. Natural beauty was an important theme in Japanese court art, reflecting its keen appreciation of the changing seasons and its worship of the various gods who inhabited plants and animals.
This is a Japanese artwork that was recently rediscovered in the British Royal Collection. In 1860, Japan gave Queen Victoria a pair of folding screens. This is the first time that this group of screens has been on public display since arriving at the British court.
Heron Painting Handbox, 1890 - 190523.0 x 27.5 x 33.3 cm
This "Heron Painted Handbox" was the first diplomatic gift between Japan and Britain after World War II, heralding a new era of friendship. The box depicts a heron with extraordinary boldness and delicacy, embellished with tiny golden stripes to embellish the soft silver feathers. The black ground is polished to a mirror effect, and the bird contrasts with the ground.
350 years of the British royal family and the Japanese imperial family
From 1613 onwards, Japanese treasures entered the English court through trade, tourism and treaties.
In 1613, the trading ships of the East India Company arrived at Japanese ports. Appointed by King James I, Captain John Serris met with Tokugawa Ieyasu, the supreme ruler of Japan, with gifts accompanied by a handwritten letter representing the British royal family. In keeping with his mission, Serris received permission to live and trade in Japan, and brought back gifts from the Tokugawa family to the British royal family, including an extremely exquisite set of carcass armor. This is the first surviving work of art from outside Europe in the British Royal Collection.
Pair of cabinets 1680-90
This lacquered cabinet is supported by a gilded bracket and is rich in graphics.
The initial direct communication between the British royal family and the Japanese imperial family did not last long. Beginning in the 1630s, Japan closed its doors to the West for 220 years.
In 1869, Queen Victoria's second son, Prince Alfred (Duke of Edinburgh), met emperor Meiji at the Japanese Imperial Palace, and the British royal family became the first European royal family to visit Japan. Prince Alfred received a helmet made in 1537. The prince excitedly wrote in a letter to the Queen's mother that he could not find the right language to describe the country, "everything is new, peculiar, and curious." ”
The second group of British royals visiting Japan was Prince George, grandson of Queen Victoria and later King George V, and his brother Prince Albert Victor. In 1881, young princes visited Japan as naval non-commissioned officers and made a hajj to the Meiji Emperor and Empress. Not only did the two bring back teapots and cups as gifts for their families, they also tattooed their arms during their stay in Japan, with the older brother tattooed the Stork and the younger brother tattooed with a dragon and tiger.
Pair of jars and covers c.1690-1730
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the alliance between Britain and Japan, the artistic and cultural exchanges between the two countries also deepened. In 1910, the Japan-Britain Exposition held in London showcased various cultures from Japan, including art, music, and sports. According to statistics, more than 8 million visitors visited the museum, including members of the British royal family.
The relationship between the British Royal Family and the Japanese Imperial Family has continued to deepen through goodwill visits, commemorative ceremonies such as enthronement ceremonies and coronation ceremonies, and the exchange of gifts.
In 1902, Prince Akihito Komatsugu represented Emperor Meiji at the coronation of King Edward VII and presented the king with a screen embroidered with the four seasons of Japan.
In 1953, on the occasion of the coronation of Elizabeth II, Emperor Showa of Japan presented the first gift of the two countries since the war, which was the "Heron Painted Handbox" mentioned above, by The Famous Japanese Lacquer Artist and a technician who served the Imperial Family of Japan. 2022 is Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, and the longest-reigning British monarch in history will mark his 70th anniversary. This "Heron Painted Handbox" reappeared in front of the world 70 years later.
The exhibition will run until March 12, 2023.