Opened by HRH The Prince of Wales
At the same time that the lacquer| enamel and metalwork of the Khalili Collection of Japanese Art was being exhibited at the British Museum in 1994-5| the ceramic part of this collection was exhibited at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff| and was opened by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
The National Museum of Wales has large holdings of European ceramics| however the Far East is only represented by a small number of comparative pieces| most of them Chinese. The Khalili Collection is unrivalled in scale and scope| and the exhibition was a unique opportunity to see and appreciate the work of the greatest ceramic artists of this period| Makuzu Kozan and Yabu Meizan.
The asymmetry| colour and exuberance of Japanese art delighted William Burges| the architect of Cardiff Castle. A pupil of Burges| Josiah Conder| became the father of Western architecture in Japan| and it is the cross-fertilisation of Japanese and British culture during the Meiji period which gave this exhibition a special appeal.
This exhibition which consisted of 98 pieces is reproduced in full colour in the catalogue written by Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley.
