The re-opening of Japanese ports to foreign trade in 1854, after nearly 250 years of embargo, ushered in an era of utter fascination with, and inspiration from, every aspect of the visual culture from that distant, unfamiliar island country. Japanese woodblock prints, ceramics, textiles, screens, and other objets d’art began appearing in European markets in the 1860s, soon drawing much attention in major exhibitions, markets, fairs, and salons. Japanese prints and objects increasingly provided Western artists images of a foreign, exotic land, as well as a new formal vocabulary, sense of spatial relationships, color palette, and appreciation for nature. French art critic Philippe Burty coined a new term for this Japanese-inspired aesthetic: Japonisme.
The earliest efforts in Japonisme consisted of copied motifs from Japanese prints, as can be seen in Félix Bracquemond’s (1833-1914) Service Rousseau tableware. Exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle to critical acclaim, this work is credited with the earliest use of Japanese print images in French decorative arts. His asymmetrical placement of the appropriated images on the plates also exhibits an understanding of the Japanese spatial concepts, and a shift away from practiced French symmetrical arrangements.
Other French decorative artists soon followed in adopting Japanese designs and formal principles, and what began as a superficial borrowing of motifs evolved into a true assimilation and adaptation of Japanese aesthetic concepts. Besides the work of Bracquemond, Japonisme in ceramics was skillfully embraced by Albert Dammouse (1848-1926), Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909), Théodore Deck (1823-1891), Edmond Lachenal (1855-1948), and Émile Decoeur (1876-1953), among many others in the Paris circle and beyond. Each of these ceramicists developed independent, interpretive, japoniste styles, emulating the spirit of their models and in the process, achieving a new, freer conception of painted decoration, vase shapes, stoneware glazes, and other ceramic techniques.
Japonisme’s popularity began to fade at the dawning of the 20th century as it was supplanted by the sinuous lines and whiplash tendrils of Art Nouveau. However, decorative and fine arts are nothing if not a continuum, and Japonisme’s lasting influence was felt in the genesis of concurrent and following art movements including Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and beyond.
Albert-Louis Dammouse 1848–1926
Albert-Louis Dammouse was born in Sèvres, Paris, the son of a modeler and decorator at the national factory, where he had an early apprenticeship. Around 1892, after working at various potteries, including Haviland & Co., he established his own studio-workshop in Sèvres with his brother Edouard-Alexandre. They specialized in decoration inspired by patterns and images from the Far and Middle East. In the early 1900s he began to work in glass, concentrating on that alone in his last years. Dammouse was awarded the rank of Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 1926 and his work is held in numerous museums in France (Palais Galliera, Musée des arts décoratifs and Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres, and the Musée national Adrien-Dubouché, Limoges), the United States, and Germany.
Auction Results Albert-Louis Dammouse
