Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/152

 ever devices gave cheap, speedy, and temporarily striking results was developed with unfortunate facility. Against this the genius of the country soon revolted, though the conditions that led to such a departure from true canons remained almost unaltered. About the year 1880 a renaissance slowly set in, and judging by the ground which the Japanese keramist has already recovered, it is evident that he needs only an intelligent and liberal public to climb once more to the heights of excellence on which he once stood. In no respect is this return to wholesome fashions more marked than in the use of vitrifiable enamels. These have not only replaced pigments in great part, but begin also to show much of their ancient brilliancy and purity. Some of the Arita potters devote themselves to tours de force sufficiently remarkable. They manufacture enormous plaques, huge vases, and pedestal lamps, nine or ten feet high, for placing in Japanese gardens. These are, perhaps, legitimate exercises of skill where the materials employed are not sufficiently fine for the production of small choice specimens.