Kataro Shirayamadani’s Rookwood Lamp
Published by the Two Red Roses Foundation, January 17, 2021
The height of the American Arts and Crafts movement in the first decades of the 20th century coincided with the increasing availability of electricity. Many makers embraced this new technology, which offered the means to realize a central goal of the movement – a harmoniously unified interior. Designers created a wide array of lighting fixtures that coordinated with Arts and Crafts furnishings and aligned with the movement’s reformist ideas concerning honesty, usefulness, and beautiful design.
The Two Red Roses Foundation (TRRF) has an impressive collection of lighting designed and produced by the movement’s practitioners. Recently, the TRRF acquired an exceptional Rookwood Pottery Company lamp by Japanese designer Kataro Shirayamadani with a Tiffany Studios leaded glass shade (Fig. 1). The lamp’s base features a Japanese-inspired design – sea green glazed earthenware with daffodils, mounted with electrodeposited copper leaves. The dark green and yellow leaded glass shade, in Tiffany’s vine and leaf pattern, is a perfect complement to the base.
Founded in 1880 by artist Maria Longworth Nichols as a small studio in Cincinnati, OH, Rookwood Pottery Company quickly grew into a substantial Arts and Crafts firm with a large professional staff (Fig. 2). Like many artists at this time, Nichols was intrigued with the art of Japan. In 1876, Japan had a display at Philadelphia’s Centennial Exhibition, where for the first time Americans were exposed to their earthenware, lacquerware, and bronzes. The simple designs and nature-inspired motifs resonated with Nichols, who began producing Japanese-inspired ceramics. In 1887, she hired Tokyo-born designer Kataro Shirayamadani, a skilled porcelain painter who immigrated to the United States, as a decorator. During Shirayamadani’s tenure, Rookwood reached international fame for its artistic success and technical innovations.
When creating the lamp’s base, Shirayamadani drew upon his deep knowledge of Japan’s fine and decorative arts. Additionally, Rookwood had an extensive design library that decorators regularly mined for inspiration, replicating motifs and shapes from these sources on new wares. The bold, spherical base with four squat legs is reminiscent of an 18th or 19th century Japanese incense burner. The daffodil underglaze decoration was most likely taken directly from popular Japanese woodblock prints. Artist Katsushika Hokusai’s manga, containing more than 300 whimsical cartoons depicting everyday life, plants, animals, and insects, was the most popular source for American designers.
In addition to choosing the base’s shape and decoration, Shirayamadani crafted the electroplated leaves utilizing a technique he introduced. An entry in Rookwood’s Book of Corporate Minutes, dated January 30, 1900, provides insight into his contribution: “During the year a new department has been equipped for applying metal mountings by electrodeposit – the credit of applying this method and working out the most important details being due to Mr. Shirayamadani.” After the vessel was thrown, Shirayamadani added clay, carving it to create the feet and leaves. These areas remained unglazed as the daffodil decoration was executed. After the final firing was completed, Shirayamadani added copper to the unglazed area through the electrodeposit method. Two other objects in TRRF collection utilize this technique: a vase with a copper dragon by Shirayamadani, and a vase featuring a silver octopus by fellow decorator John Hamilton Delaney (Figs. 3 and 4).
Rookwood promoted their electroplated wares in 1902, stating “this method gives the piece a variety and richness of texture and color, while retaining the unity of design usually lost in metal mounting.” Visitors will be able to examine this complex yet exquisite lamp when the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement opens in St. Petersburg, FL.