Industry Japanese craft Founder Andō Jubei Products Enamelware | Founded 19th century Headquarters Sakae, Nagoya, Japan | |
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Key people Andō family, Kawade Shibatarō | ||
Ando Cloisonné Company (安藤七宝店, Andō Shipōyaki) is a Japanese cloisonné making company located in Sakae, Nagoya, central Japan.
Contents
History
Owari province was one of the foremost production centres of enamel in the country. During the Edo period the Andō family operated a pipe shop called "Murata-ya". Andō Jubei (Jusaburo) (1876-1953) was born in Nagoya as the fourth child; he had three elder sisters. His mother died in May 1877 following an illness, and his father followed in September 1877. Orphaned at less than one year old, he was raised according to his father’s will by staff employers. His older sister married Andō Juzaemon, whose born name was Matsukichi. Together with his brother-in-law they made the cloisonné company a success. In 1893, Andō Juzaemon went to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was his first time to travel overseas, and he used the opportunity to study the market. In 1901 Andō Jubei went to the Glasgow International Exhibition, which was his first overseas travel, and he stayed for two years in a British home to study the market.
After they returned back to Japan, they invited Kawade Shibatarō (1856–1921) as head of the studio, who further developed plique-à-jour. Cloisonné experienced strong growth around the time of the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. Japanese enamel work became sought after in the west and sourced many pieces from Toshima, which is the origin of Owari cloisonne.
As of 1918, at least fifty cloisonné artists worked there. The company was given an Imperial Warrant of Appointment to the Japanese court. Ando cloisonné was also presented as state gifts. Manchukuo Prime Minister Zheng Xiaoxu (1860-1938) wrote four Chinese characters in calligraphy in praise of a vase that was presented to him as a gift.
It is one of the very few traditional cloisonné companies still left in Japan. The main store in Sakae has a small museum with objects by the Ando company and also Namikawa. Objects from Ando are held in the collection of the Walters Art Museum and in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Types
Shipōyaki is a kind of cloisonné, in which the base is covered by enamel and fused. The different types and techniques which are the marks of Ando include: