Shakudo Bracelet, Meiji Period | 「赤銅 」手鏈, 明治時代

When Japanese ports opened up to trade in the mid 19th century, their unique aesthetics soon started a trend in decorative arts called Japonisme. Shakudo, an alloy of gold and copper, was traditionally used throughout Japanese history to decorate sword parts such as the tsuba or kozuka. Using decorative shakudo pieces as jewellery became very popular in Europe by mid 1870s, as seen from another bracelet example in the Understanding Jewellery book by David Bennett & Daniela Mascetti (page 190). There is also an eleven piece shakudo parure in the Metropolitan Museum collection by Hunt & Roskell.

十九世紀中葉，日本為促進對外貿易而開放港口，而獨一無二的日本美學開始風靡西方世界，不久更在歐洲掀起「日本主義」裝飾藝術風潮（Japonisme）。赤銅（Shakudo）是黃金和銅的混合體。在日本，赤銅通常用以裝飾劍身，如劍鍔（tsuba）或劍鞘（kozuka）。1870年代中期，歐洲流行以飾紋華麗的赤銅作為珠寶首飾。David Bennett 與 Daniela Mascetti 撰寫的《珠寶詳解》收錄一條手鏈（頁190），體現了這種日本風格。大都會藝術博物館現藏一套 11件Hunt & Roskell 赤銅首飾套裝。