The Meiji era was a time when Japan absorbed some Western cultural influences and used international events to promote its art, which became very influential in Europe.

[4] Combining Western technology and government sponsorship, Japanese decorative arts reached a new level of technical sophistication.

[6] The works received positive press reviews and shops in European capitals began to cater for a new demand for Japanese decorative art.

At the same time, art objects came to be a large part of Japan's exports, actively promoted by the government which wanted to reduce the country's trade deficit with the West.

[8] The government took an active interest in the standard of art exported, exerting quality control via the Hakurankai Jimukyoku (Exhibition Bureau).

[26] The past history of samurai weaponry equipped Japanese metalworkers to create metallic finishes in a wide range of colours.

[27] Some of these metalworkers were appointed Artists to the Imperial Household, including Kano Natsuo, Unno Shomin, Namekawa Sadakatsu, and Jomi Eisuke II, each of whom is represented in the collection.

[28] Other works include an elephant incense burner by Shoami Katsuyoshi, a sculpture of the deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto by Otake Norikuni, and a group of iron pieces by the Komai family of Kyoto, decorated with gold in a process known in the West as damascening.

[31][32] Artists experimented with pastes and the firing process to produce ever larger blocks of enamel, with less need for cloisons (enclosing metal strips).

[35] These are regarded as the three great innovators of the golden age of Japanese cloisonné; they developed new firing techniques and reduced the visibility of wires.

[33] An example in the collection is an incense burner by Namikawa Yasuyuki, created for presentation to the Emperor, that combines enamel with gold and shakudō to depict a landscape scene.

[42] Another lacquer item is a cabinet by Harui Komin, commissioned by the Japanese Crown Prince for presentation to the future King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom.

[45] The collection includes, among other porcelain works, more than eighty by Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kozan, described in 1910 as Japan's greatest living ceramic artist.

[49] Some of his works showed the influence of European graphic design, while he combined traditional Japanese and Chinese techniques with new technologies from the West.

[50] The collection illustrates how he and his son Hanzan became increasingly ambitious, introducing new colours, designs and sculptural effects in works sent to international exhibitions.

[52] The collection shows that Meizan used Chinese as well as Japanese motifs in his decoration, drawing from sources including Buddhist imagery and the prints of Hiroshige.

A separate volume of essays uses the collection to explore the phenomenon of Japonisme: the enthusiasm for Japanese arts in late 19th century Europe.