gon, phoenix, an animal with the body and
hoofs of a deer, the tail of a bull, and with a horn on its forehead,
a monster lion, and the sacred tortoise. Trees, plants, grasses, and
flowers of various kinds, and some of the badges in Japanese heraldry
are also largely made use of. However grotesque some of these objects
may be, or however grotesque the representations of animals and even
landscapes may be, no one who has closely studied it can deny the fact
that the effect of Japanese decorative art as applied to the ceramic
ware of the country is, on the whole, magnificent. The more one
studies it the more impressed one is with its marvellous beauty and
the originality which has been brought to bear upon it. I defy any man
or woman, who possesses the artistic sensibilities, even in a latent
degree, to visit a gallery containing the masterpieces of Japanese
ceramic art, closely study them in all their details, and minutely
examine the attention which the artist has given to even the smallest
of those details without being impressed by its power. It is, I
consider, a liberal education to any person who has the slightest
prepossession for art to wander through such a gallery and admire the
masterpieces of these wonderful art-workers of Japan.

The demand for the various art products of Japan in both Europe and
America has had its perhaps inevitable result in not only the
manufacture of articles simply and solely for the foreign market, but
in the what I may term faking of modern to represent ancient art
productions. "Old" Satsuma, for example, is a case in point. The
genuine old Satsuma ware, by constant use, obtained, like meerschaum,
a delightful tint. Modern Satsuma is comparatively white, and so, in
order to pander to the taste of the European collector of the ancient
article, the modern is stained to the required shade. The article
itself is genuine, and indeed beautiful, but this "faking" of it to
meet European and American tastes is one of the results, I fear, of
Western influences. What the precise effect of European influences may
be on the old porcelain art of Japan it is impossible to say. So far
as I am concerned, I have no hesitation in expressing my own opinion
that it will not be a healthy influence. Art for art's sake is, I
admit, difficult when the plutocrats of the West, with a craze or a
fad for Eastern art, are pouring out their wealth in order to obtain
specimens thereof. Demand usually induces supply,