:t2F-ITIS1?SCULPTT.RE.~GN'`..,',ll. .,.>p._alhl',Sllfitcicrltto inuicatetl)uirscL+iptor'sMCa11L)-of16caiinvention;indeedwecouldscarcelyillustrateMoreaptly titan from")_nlthe<ens~,oroneof the sense, inwhichwe underttlcithet:llll.T1:t-vare.n;rncle0toexinbittlwt%Vo(Ao111u:ar)t1:ria~Tlesof the poets mind: ononesi(lc,authority controllingimpulse-afatihersubduing hisrc-fractor%.boy;or. theother,reverencetoGod as thefr+litof tllrcontelaplationof Mature-;1 mother, inwgesture()1'thethoughtof1)Lrd;:uglhtcr,\N-hohasbroughhther aflower.Amongotherof Mr.Woolneralreadymade public, we may cite tileslnallfiguresinrelieffor the pulpit ofLlanda.ffCathedral-Ini)avi(l,theR,ptist,and St.Paul,--eacha distinctly1)"iCO11Ce'rit1011, 110LUlhI-of-,!?e?;ernona£,,ehimself1)utof the form ofart-embodiulent.Tilinkingof thesea))(iotherNvorks,of the variedranIcofpoN`,,y-.alwaysequalto theoccasion,whichthey exhibit,1,)ftl~.:lli1)their;tlthorn111st1lat1oP;111%-a»11i11C;a5tulleCu115ohilalcshislnacter,.andhi::reputatlwi,we(lc~seOUT'suwnlaryrr,vie1,,'of Britishsct11pture,1)((taltogethertlnilc)1wfullyof the destinies which m..1e..,.1:il:ourowl glncration.I~~lZcw~"~1.o~.aov+~cC0.u~Y'\d.1tr'.1'1r4~,1~~315-~j_X.~~~1463w.~,~ca„a~a.„.~w~1l,e.~.Mt~QosSe~~jArANESEWOODCUTS.THEhigh state ofdevelopmentwhich the fine and deco-rative arts have attained in Japan has come upon mostEn'-lishluopleas asurprise,familiar though theywerefromofold'n:. ,the-cnerl facto•."certainorn:::,~11t11manu-factures existinginTapan,and cognisant as they were ofsomeisolatedspecimens of suchNvorks.Of late years«-ehavehad frequent opportunities of appreciating thesing-,-lily"I"I)al-16pl(iuantln',calilun,andtj1Csup,:rlativejust-Messalh1:conlpi:tenessUe:.~c~ition,illthedecorativet-)roductsofthis latest-openedoftheAsiaticempires-theso-calledJapan-work,porcelain,stmt•.'-plaitin,basket-work,metal-work, and the like.Thellnappliedfineart of Japanw!,,chstands onia. ovn basis, not used for thepurposes of decoration-is stillknoNN11to only avery-re-stricted class in this country; itcannotbe so easily broughtbeforethe publicview,nor could it he expected to obtainLasyetso111L1Chvogueevenin1)I,%atecircles.Nevertheless,It:1~;11rC(ll\'belong", iny:Mousl~sl)l:c.t<to therea'e-tonierof::rt1)ractisrdin our clay in anycountryof thelcorld.It11nsa(i;:rin_nussofcorception,an almostfiercelytenaciousC'rasl)OlIt:Ssubjects,:lnaiest\"ol.Clei,*,nlllgpalterand`f;,`.11'sl(1:1':m'aiWc:^.l;?`In:~n.36-fJA:-ASVS..WOODCUT4.such as no MichaelAngelo,Tintoret, orDCireralnon~tts,if we only had them, couldafford,orwouldbe intheIc.tstminded, to despise.In details oftreatmentandi1;t:n<llit)::,also, it has a combination of the arbitrary andunexpect(Awith a rigid fixity of general system,highlycalculated10rivet the strong impression produced by thegreatprimaryqualities to which we have referred.TheexcellenceoffJapanese woodcuts-for it is especially ofwood(tatst'-iwe are speaking is, a, far aswehavenoticed,t-onsi:+:,i.The kind ofexcellence,however,variesNviththeI..'ofwhichfour classes may be named as the moreprwninw,)twithin our experience.First, scenesfrom social lift.1111.manners andoccupationsofthei~~ol)ir,oftentrcitt"l~,largetableaux.,withcrowdsoftigurcs,andcolour-print(1t.Second, landscapes, uncoloured or colour-printed;t:~16-111Iti-well-studied,accurate,thoughbroadly-summarizedvlcw.;tdthemountainousand otherdistrictsoftheenlptrt`,?11!1..tcharacter and expression:whencolourk-d,theseir.1%c:tialmost Titianesque vigour anddignityoferect,attainedbythemost simple means and positive colours.*Third,w-manticor legendary histories,also eitheruncoloticolour-printed.Fourth,booksof scrap:;,varying11~~1~.-,1tthemerely slightndniiscelTaii~uis;-:inslthe;w<'to,1tcmaking-out of thoroughly tangible subjects,soniclto.11;''1tthis kind appearing to have a kind ofencyckl,;t;dw.1111).In these as in otherexamplesofJapaneseart,Hic:1n17:T.designingismostconsuminate,thoughoneoft,1t1,11,11-Itdefendsuch points as theanatomicalstructurealt<iof the quadrupeds.On the other hand, ;for,urlt1',mnt,as the action of birds, their quaint turn, of head orlithedeviations of neck; the decorative ant!atthe,:film60110naturalistic treannent of plumage; theshooting,l;lidini;,andpatterning,of fishes; thewindingofscrlteta,,"Ito-,(-lengthis to be reckoned byyardsofstealthy vertebra-crunch-ingmotion,-weincline to. say that the Japanese reachhigher in point of perceptiveknowledge,and instant magicof the realizing hand, than any phase or period of Europeanart:and-the samepraise,with the necessary deduction,must beunderstoodto apply also even to the treatment-of the larger animals.One, of the most sumptuous ofTatrt.nese'looksknownto its-_onsistsofr~a.tmentsona large scale ofdesign,atone;;daring andexquisite,elabo-rate;andsimple,of birttl andflowersubjects,withcolour.,the.formsbeingbeautifitilymade out, notonlyby the linesofengraving,but also, in alliance and aid tothese,byin1!t;I)fCJ.inici.111uLhelikesubordinatepoints.«'emightenlargeon many otheraspectsofJapaneseart-itscolour-printing, riotousgro-tesques,crape-paperdesigns,ttc.;wemust, however, restrictounselyato;amiug.-sa specialinasteramon(:hepro-ducer, of thesera»011"1encyclopedic«•oodct:t-books,.:,very eminent andindeedgreat artist of about half a centuryago,H_oxai--aname to beZ)ronounccdnotwithoutreverenceby such lovers of art as arewillingto be catholic withretardtogeographical1_mit=.aswellas those of schoolandpcrirxl.Itisto anuncolouredexample in our third class, ofroman):;,or legendary histories,-on thewhole,perhaps thefinestexample wehaveseen,--thatwedevote the remainderofOurarticle.Wewouldgladly inform the readerwhatthe story illus-trated in thewoodcutseries really is.Unfortunately wedo not know:noncuiviscoittir~,,itto read theJapanesecharacter-Writing.The impressionwhichthe seriesleavesupon us is that of some popular heroic legend of ancienttiuie:thedeedsof some Japanese Theseus or Roland366TAPA\'E--F1-11(1rrrembalmedin the popular heart andmemory,hotanymerestory, of the clay vamped up orbedizenedbytheYeddo Longfellow, andfromhim taken up by the`illc:s-trating'artist.Soweconjecture;but, not havingallyknowledgeof the story, and finding this,moreover,nota little difficult to decipher in the pictured series,NveC;1:tdo.nomore for our readers satisfaction than describeinsome detail, one by one, the various subjects asd,cy:ir(-apparenton the face of