Japanese and Egyptian Art

Source: The Art Amateur, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Mar., 1883), p. 94

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~94 - sTHI,Ei .dA;R.T'7tAMA'TF-UP&.'. ';-A-M
JAPANESE AN.D AG.YPTIJA I 7RT. people was treatedwith. the same rigid connventional ;Again Dr. Dkresserfinds imoldjkwotkswr
ism. In soine; Japanese forms of -the l.otos,. we have renderedas-the :"wvve^scrdilI;'Tand drawn.preciselyis
DUIRING...his.:.stay in .Japam'.nothing. surprised Dr. two -longitudinialconvex ridges -on the petalsy such'-as it.was by the .Egyptians ;.ithe :keywpatternt enriran y .s
"Dressermore, he tells' us, than t-hestrong Egyptian we find 'onEgyptian and Greek le4f-mouldings." varieties, but especially.o the txire-simple..ways. n
a:haracteristics--in.mayl.y
of -thedld works of art. -On *which.it is:found"ii. oid: Egy.ptian worS W.ais'
certain -Buddhist altars he Aound. a banch of-the ., .- . . . . . . have birds -as a favorite ceiin .ormient .in3 ioi
nelumbium or lo countries,while inieach'.
tos, ending in a instance a rigid. con
flowerand a leaf, 000 ~ M& -M0 ventionality characteri
while attached to izes the drawing; and
the' stem dre in-some of the render
scales ofa young ings of birds there is a
leaf and a bud. strikinTgsimilarity be
This object, il tween theworks of the
lustrated here two countries. There
with, Buddha is OBJECT CARVED IN IMITATION OF THE BUDDHI-ST is alsb the simple yet;
said to hold in LOTOS. dignified portrayar o6f
his hand when the figure, as in the-;
he prays for his These ridges are shown in an illustration of a B3uddhas of Japan, and:
mother. It- bears lotos cast in bronze, preserved in the Mikado's treas the sculptured gods and
IN BRNZE OF- EGYP.T-leA
a strange likeness ury at Nara. In connection with his remarks con-' kings of ihe Egyptians.::
C7HARACTERi
v toEgyptian work. There is theuse of lotos-:'
One cannot 'fail leaves' on mouldings. and:
jo_ notice, by the we have the slantingwalls of. 'the .buildings.::While
way, how perfectly again, -th'eNile god was supposedl d'welli^thedlotos.
thisgracefuldesign flower,Buddha sits on that blossom-as.a.thr.o.ne.. tBe`
might be adapted side all thiswe find that the priestesseseia.t'Na.ra, 'while' .
for the purpose of performingtheirsacred dance, used thesistrum.or rat
a tobacco-pipe; the tle in themanner of the.priestesses of Isis, and .in. both
leafwould serve as - countries' the sistr:u (ike
a rest,and thedisk the. yoni *of -the :Hindus)
at the top of the symbolizes the.. -c.elesti
flowerwith its nat Virgin.
ural perforations "Then-the Japanese-pi
would make an ex -lows bear a cl,ose, esem
BUDDHIST M0i5TRANCE3, blance:to .those of. ancie'nt"'i
cellent guard. We
venture to suggest igypt ,';, the use of the- me-m vi
the idea to sotiie enterprisingmanufacturerwho may tAfticm'irror iUscor"nmfto-M
wish- to bring out a pipe at once artistic indesign, simn both ntations,'and in 'ach'
pie in construction, and convenient foruse. thecireoi6lar formp.rvailed"'--..
The nelumbium from time immemorial has been ap -The Egyptians- had the
plied in Japan to sacred purposes. In the accompany ibis, theJapanese havethe '
ing illustrationswe fintdit conventionally treatedwith stoik,, and in.bo6th co`-`
Egyptian-like rigidity,in a curious object which closely tries .1he bird. s sacred
in char A lion a:t 'Thebes draw.ni-w
is i,
resembles
acter the N-rLon with a cirbilar ornaetr
strance" of the on. the .shoulder, sililar 'I w
Roman Catholic --thatwhich we. 1ird e,, 'op
Church; "One of .,manyof the o.ld --,thial
these specimeis IEIE-W 'O.THE
animals of Japan. Pa
containsthetooth _MONSTRANCE.. terns". formed of birds
ofa bishop,while heaa,s ar,-irangefd in.
in are series are not u n-.
'another -
sm a :
metallic in either couintr. In bothow fizida sortof tal
Irlmps found in on granite columns, form-ed-by j onamenat"
imaed
the' ashes of a :-There is.much-moreof the sampe harcter.add'. X
cremated priest. BUDDHIST IMONSTRANCE IN A JAPANESE TEMPLE. .by.r Dresser to show tht the Ja.paneseh-ab&a
T h e supersti-' an earlyvperiod,had intercoursew:ithE`: O
PRESENITEDBY A CHINESS,PRINCE, A.D. 622.
tious believe that . this' intercoursebetw.een countr mote ca
if the man has Wa'bt.ut he does not pretend to ;BJut-he
sDy. remindso ^
been wise therewill be cern-ing the.-nelumbium,, Dr. Dresser calls atte ntion ,to -s sth n the early centuries of the:stin C- . :h-con:fia'
many such lumps fo&d IShe -fat 6tb,at" a conrventidnalodrnamient-, having -to the stantintercoursewas 1cept u et Wee1ijna: ap4jjaj ;
where-his body burnt,is scroll-vb' ork 'of -Chiina~ a rielationi siinilar' to that w-,bich-the pan.,--And many Buddhst pri&stsf.S!i3 ni and a<
?nd if not there will A,ithieniiQn-6bfthe G;ri?eksbor&e to;
be but few. Ther mon-_ the.ornamIentof that country,owes
strance is in some cases its origin to this flower. While the
forrned almost entirely ornament is so derived, the leafage
of-gold,andis of exquis surrounding it comes from the con
itedesign and workman ventional representationof clouds.
ship, and their parts Going farther into the- analogy
have a symbolical signifi between the early decorative art of
cance fromwhich much Egypt and Japan, our auithor calls
may be learned." attention to ' the insignia of the
In .Buddhist temples latter couritry,a golden -ball on a
Dr. Dresser found,'used red ground, or a red ball on a white
as ornaments oaf the a1 ground-in otherWords a represen
* * ., I
tars, groups of five lily tation of the sun. By the ancient
buds bound together as Egyptians a similar device was
shown herewith, which used; and onr plate V. of .Owen
'are not less Egyptian in Jones' 'Grammar ofOrnament' we
character than the spray have examples of Egyptian work in
of the lotos in the 'pipe which this red.?11biflI'occurs. Thus,
GROUP OF LOTOS BUDS USED like form alluded to it rests on*` lotos iii the bow of a
ON BUDDHIST ALTARS.
above; . The lilyasso boat; it surmounts a stern post; it CHINESE ANTHEMION. DERIVED FROM THE LOTOS.
ciated with Buddhism, occurs on a feather used on cere
however, is not that of Egypt, the latter being a monial occasions, and itcrowns the
in the ornament once placed also visited the latter.cogntry. Dr. Dresser strongly
nymphaea,.the formera nelumbium; but each country head of tlheasp; while
has simply used the flower-growing in the land. In over every doorway- in Egypt, we- have the sun as the inclines to the -theorythat Japanese communication
-was familiar to the central figure, and wings and asps placed laterally." with Egypt was conducted through. Continental Asiai
-tothcases the particular lilywhich

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