European Publications of the 19th Century as a Source of Oriental Motifs in Decorative Arts and an Attribution Tool

Abstract

The nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries in the history of European decorative art are marked by a new rise in interest in the art of the Far East. In contrast to the previous century, at the new stage, this interest is characterised by more interesting and deeper interpretations of exotic artistic traditions. The reasons for the emergence of a new wave of Chinese style and, later, Japanism were several factors, among which the authors single out the institute of world exhibitions and the formation of museum and private collections. This article considers several cases demonstrating the important role of publication activity in the dissemination of oriental motifs and plots in the decorative art of Western Europe, Russia, and the Urals. Referring to works of European jewelers, Russian stonecutters, and Ural iron foundry workers, the authors reveal the main opportunities provided by the study and analysis of publications of an artistic, reference, and academic nature from between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The article examines European print publications as direct and possible sources of oriental plots, which, in addition, make it possible to clarify the attribution of individual works and form an understanding of the mechanisms of integration of exotic motifs into traditional types of decorative art in the Urals. The analysis of publication activity, as well as of specific works of European and Russian masters, not only made it possible to demonstrate the role of publications of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in disseminating information about exotic artistic traditions. The examples considered convincingly prove the need to comprehend the decorative and applied art of Russia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as part of the European art market, and once again confirm the involvement of the Ural art industry in the current stylistic agenda.