Japanese Motifs in the American Furniture Design in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries

There were cultural and historical prerequisites that facilitated the development of interest in Japanese culture in America at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Under the influence of fashion for Japanese art, new principles of decorating the home interior of Americans were formed. This study is devoted to Japanese motives in the American furniture design of this period. The purpose of this study is to identify the reasons and to show the specifics and specificity of Japanese borrowings in the American art furniture of the late 19th-early 20th centuries. To achieve this goal, in the study the historical context of the times and specifics of cultural exchange between America and Japan were analyzed; the art market of Japanese goods in the United States, fashion for Japanese works of art were studied; the evolution of this fashion was explored; and based on the analysis the form of influence of the Japanese Culture on the development of American arts and crafts, the reasons for Japanese borrowings in the American furniture design at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries were determined. Based on the artistic-stylistic analysis of the works of American furniture design, decorative and constructive features of these products, shaped by the influence of Japanese art and architecture, were revealed, and the specifics of the development of US furniture design influenced by the achievements of Japanese culture were defined.