Fisherman with basket and net

After the Meiji Restoration (1868), many traditional artisans lost their patrons and were forced to re-shape their artistic activities in order to adjust to Western concepts of art that began to affect late nineteenth-century Japanese aesthetics. Among the most popular new artisans in the Meiji era were the ivory carvers. Large ivory carving quickly developed in the 1880s and lasted for about a decade. Especially welcomed by foreigners, Meiji ivory sculpture became the most popular Japanese craft at the world expositions as well as in the Western market. This particular piece was most likely an export object made in response to these new demands. The fisherman with basket depicted here is a typical example of Meiji period hyperrealism, as witness the very subtle expression on the face and the clearly tense musculature of the body. The Meiji artists used their highly skilled techniques to simulate the texture of real objects: a slab of wood, the net, baskets, robes, and reed-plaited outer wrapping. The fisherman is carved from a single large block of ivory, while the basket, fishnet, and base are separately carved and added. (From “A Handbook of the Collection: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,” 1998)