The Third Thursday Lecture on the 19th September 2024 was dedicated to the Japanese lacquerware collection at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent. The online lecture aimed to introduce Denys Eyre Bower’s (1905-1977) Japanese urushi collection, it’s historical context, and how it is displayed at the Castle. This important and varied collection is one of the most significant in the UK today.
The lecture was presented by Naomi Collick, curator at Chiddingstone Castle, and began with an introduction to both the history of the Castle and the latest owner, Bower; an eccentric collector who dedicated his life to finding artefacts at auctions in the UK. Bower initially worked as a bank clerk before moving to London to set up his own antiques shop taking over Cavendish Hood & Co. antiques dealers in Baker Street in 1943. Here he sold various objects from furniture to ceramics to Western paintings. He bought Chiddingstone Castle in 1955 as a new home for his collections, dedicating two rooms for his Japanese objects, consisting in large part of urushi lacquerwares, arms, swords, an Edo period armor, iron animals, and also three haniwa figures. Other rooms were dedicated to Ancient Egyptian artefacts, portraits, Stuart & Jacobite papers, and Buddhist statues.
It was really interesting to hear that Bower’s decision to collect Japanese objects was probably an inspiration driven by his father’s interest in Chinese porcelain. His family in general had a huge interest in collecting art and so he followed the family tradition of collecting and bought a total of around 800 Japanese objects. Moreover, Denys had a library with almost 400 books related to Japan, from which we can comprehend that he had a wide interest in Japanese art.
The collection counts almost 570 pieces of lacquerware that he decided to exhibit in antique display cases purchased from the British Museum. Unfortunately, there are not many specific records of these lacquerwares, so some of the history and provenance of the items is not clear. However, there are still some documents, labels, letters and notes that he left behind, that can help to trace the history of these objects. For example, some lacquerwares were bought from the Michael Tomkinson collection, others from the Louis B. Hurt collection, and a big part from London auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s. His purchases were mostly made for quality and a search for originality, rather than a keen search for a specific signature. Today it is unknown whether or not he had an advisor, expert, or salesman who suggested the pieces to buy. He visited Japan once on a tour in 1976 and from the trip came back with some souvenir pieces but no lacquerware pieces.
The lacquerware collection spans from the 17th to 20th centuries, with object types for both domestic and export markets. Objects are mostly high-quality and luxurious pieces, ranging from containers for food, sake, incense, and tea caddies or inro, to writing boxes, and from cabinets and picnic sets to furniture. The collection features a variety of styles and techniques, from nanban artworks, to rinpa (Fig. 1) and kodai-ji pieces, and most of the collection is in maki-e decoration, with pear skin decoration (nashiji), that demonstrates fine and skilful lacquering processes. There are several lacquer boxes with decoration inspired by literature, such as the Tale of Genji, as well as seasonal motifs of flowers and plants, landscapes with poetic associations, Chinese-inspired designs, and pattern decoration from fabrics that reflected the taste of the new merchant class of Edo period. Among the most significant objects is the ‘Chiddingstone casket’[1] (Fig. 2) made in Japan during the 1630s-40s for export, and that belonged to the famous novelist and collector William Beckford (1760 – 1844), who had one of the most celebrated art collections of the late 18th century. It is particularly rare because is a lockable miniature pavilion in the style of a many-doored European cabinet; its shape and decorations, such as columns, façade, and structure resemble in particular the Italian Renaissance style. It has traditional Japanese designs such as dragons, flowers, landscapes, patterns, and decoration in maki-e, the surface is also inlaid with pieces of mother-of-pearl, gold, and silver details.
This important artwork and many others are part of an exceptional collection that is undergoing an important digitization project thanks to the collaboration between the Sainsbury Institute and the Art Research Centre (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University in Japan with the support of the Ishibashi Foundation since 2022.
A recording of the talk is available on our YouTube channel here.
Eleonora Lanza
Università degli Studi di Milano, PhD.
[1] Two examples of similar works of art are those of the MAK in Vienna and the one preserved at the Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris.