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Meiji Ceramics

Pressure exerted by America in 1854 caused Japan to open its doors after 260 years of isolation. Virtually uninhabited receptiveness to everything Western was the driving force behind the modernisation of Japan initiated by the Meiji government, yet it also induced a rapid rediscovery of indigenous cultural values. At early Paris and London international exhibitions, the Japanese decorative and applied arts sparked off the Western fascination with all things Japanese — japonisme. In Japan, on the other hand, new technologies were eagerly adopted — the government realised that increasing production for export would be an excellent means of promoting Japanese economic growth and thus enhancing Japan's status worldwide. Meiji Ceramics represents the first detailed survey of the development of Japanese export porcelain against a highly charged background of political, economic and cultural factors. Stylistic development in Japanese ceramics did not mean one-sided Westernisation; instead, inspiration went both ways, most notably in the impact made by Japanese art on Art Nouveau and, ultimately, the Japanese aesthetic response to it.