Japanese Arts & Crafts

Japan boasts extraordinary skills and techniques in the production of
arts and crafts. For example, Japanese lacquer is known around the
world as "japan," the very name of the country in which it originated.
Characterized by its unique texture and gloss, Japanese lacquer ware
gives forth an air of sublime beauty. There were times when Japanese arts and crafts were so popular that it
had a substantial influence on Western art. For example, the influence
of Japanese porcelain was indispensable for development of the now
world-famous Meissen chinaware. During the 17th and 18th centuries,
Japanese Imari porcelain (Arita ware), like Chinese porcelain, was
greatly adored and treasured, especially by European royalty and the nobility, who valued it as much as gold and silver. At that time,
Europeans did not possess the skills to make pure white,thin and hard
porcelain. The desire and the passion to manufacture porcelain emerged
from the admiration for Japanese porcelain, which resulted in the
development of Meissen china