The Samara Regional Art Museum houses a number of valuable examples of Japanese cloisonné enamels. One of them is a bowl decorated with images of butterflies, chrysanthemums, fans, as well as the yin and yang symbols. The bowl is made in the Nishikide technique of painting. The name of this style translates as “brocade pattern”. The surface of such items is completely covered with images and ornaments. The Nishikide style had a significant impact on the formation of Art Nouveau in Europe in the late 19th — early 20th century.
In Japanese art, images of insects play an important role: they can be seen in traditional sculpture, engraving and applied art. A butterfly in the house was considered a good omen. According to an ancient Japanese belief, the dead take the form of a butterfly to go to the afterlife and eternal life. They announce in this way that they have left the human body forever. Therefore, any butterfly that flies into the house should be treated kindly. The butterfly also is a symbol of young maidens, beauty, and flourishing.
Flowers are also an essential image in Japanese culture. The chrysanthemum is an integral part of the state symbols. Ever since the image of the chrysanthemum bud was used to decorate the emperor’s blade in the 7th century, the chrysanthemum with 16 double petals has become the emblem of the imperial house. Sometimes it even functions as a state emblem: on coins, seals and official documents. This specific image of a chrysanthemum was considered sacred. For the Japanese, the number 16 expresses the fullness of being, and no one, except the emperor and the institutions related to him, has the right to use a 16-petalled chrysanthemum as a symbol.
Other images on the bowl include fans, mallets, and the yin and yang symbols. It is believed in Japan that a fan brings happiness and prosperity. It was even used for ceremonial purposes. The ogi folding fan was invented in Japan, and later borrowed by the Chinese, which was a rare occurrence in the ancient times and the Middle Ages. The mallet served as a symbol of wealth and an attribute of the god of prosperity Daikoku. A small Daikoku’s mallet is often worn as an amulet to summon success and good luck. Finally, yin and yang (literally translates from Chinese as “dark and light”) is a pair of fundamental categories in Eastern philosophy, an expression of the idea of the world’s duality and oppositions: soft and hard, inner and outer, lower and upper, female and male, earthly and heavenly.
In Japanese art, images of insects play an important role: they can be seen in traditional sculpture, engraving and applied art. A butterfly in the house was considered a good omen. According to an ancient Japanese belief, the dead take the form of a butterfly to go to the afterlife and eternal life. They announce in this way that they have left the human body forever. Therefore, any butterfly that flies into the house should be treated kindly. The butterfly also is a symbol of young maidens, beauty, and flourishing.
Flowers are also an essential image in Japanese culture. The chrysanthemum is an integral part of the state symbols. Ever since the image of the chrysanthemum bud was used to decorate the emperor’s blade in the 7th century, the chrysanthemum with 16 double petals has become the emblem of the imperial house. Sometimes it even functions as a state emblem: on coins, seals and official documents. This specific image of a chrysanthemum was considered sacred. For the Japanese, the number 16 expresses the fullness of being, and no one, except the emperor and the institutions related to him, has the right to use a 16-petalled chrysanthemum as a symbol.
Other images on the bowl include fans, mallets, and the yin and yang symbols. It is believed in Japan that a fan brings happiness and prosperity. It was even used for ceremonial purposes. The ogi folding fan was invented in Japan, and later borrowed by the Chinese, which was a rare occurrence in the ancient times and the Middle Ages. The mallet served as a symbol of wealth and an attribute of the god of prosperity Daikoku. A small Daikoku’s mallet is often worn as an amulet to summon success and good luck. Finally, yin and yang (literally translates from Chinese as “dark and light”) is a pair of fundamental categories in Eastern philosophy, an expression of the idea of the world’s duality and oppositions: soft and hard, inner and outer, lower and upper, female and male, earthly and heavenly.
