When Europeans first started trading with the East—China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia—a whole new world of design and style was revealed to Westerners. Asian artisans created masterful works—ceramics, lacquerware, textile weaving, printmaking—which enchanted the Europeans. These items, when imported to the West, were very expensive. Asian decorative arts became a status symbol of the rich and worldly. Only the wealthiest Europeans and Americans could afford to collect the real thing.
But the desire for "Oriental" design permeated more than just the upper reaches of Western society. Consumers in the growing Middle Class (especially in the Nineteenth Century) wanted "a taste of the exotic East" in their homes, too. This broad demand led Western designers and craftsmen to try to emulate the Asian aesthetic. In truth, European and American artists did not fool anyone with their copies. More often, the Asian style was simply reinterpreted through the eyes of Westerners to suit their tastes and capabilities (as art always is changed when it migrates from one culture to another). Further complicating matters: many of the Asian artisanal "trade secrets" were not being shared with the West. Centuries old techniques were held close by their protective Asian artists.
Gorgeous Asian lacquerwork delighted European aesthetes. In an attempt to replicate it—affordably and at scale—Europeans began painting upon sheets of tin or steel. The French called it tôle peinte—"painting on metal." This painting technique was called "japanning," a nod to the Asian lacquerwork which tole work was meant to replicate. Black was the most common ground color (less frequently, red or green). And floral decoration was applied by hand-painting or stenciling. Trays, canisters, and metal bouillotte lampshades were popular items for tole work.
The large Nineteenth Century tray, shown above, is mostly japanned black. A (rather) reserved border of stenciled flowers encircle the rim of the tray—a touch of color without unnecessary flamboyance. Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome tray.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248