The exhibition and collection catalogue, Bridge of Dreams: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection of Japanese Art, published in conjunction with the exhibition Masterpieces of Japanese Art from the Mary Griggs Burke Collection, is Miyeko Murase’s magnum opus. Collector Mary Griggs Burke notes in her introduction that she has been working with Murase for thirty-five years. It is quite clear when reading through this densely packed volume that Murase’s many years of research have been poured into its pages. None of the writing appears stale, as essays on each piece have been refreshed with references to recent publications and new scholarship. The catalogue serves as a mine for those studying individual works of Japanese art.

Murase has a style of writing catalogue entries that is both clean and inviting to the reader. She starts each entry with an evocative visual analysis that is especially useful for the more general reader. Her poetic descriptions stimulate one to finish the essay, in order to glean as much information as possible. This is the most effective way of writing for the general public, one audience to which the Metropolitan Museum of art strongly caters. Among her coauthors, I found that only Stephanie Wada kept to the flavor and character set by Murase, and their work was most readable as a result.

The catalogue begins with an autobiography by Burke, in which she describes her patrician heritage, speaks of her mother’s interest in Japan, and suggests the effect these familial bonds would have on her. Burke next tells of her own early art purchases and her foray into Japanese art in 1956 with her late husband, Jackson Burke. Following this history, and fully acknowledging of Murase’s involvement in the development of the collection, Burke describes the gallery space that the collector built in her home as a place to expose scholars to the riches of her collection. Like other collectors in Japanese art history who have shared their collections generously with curators, scholars, and students alike, Burke’s gallery has been invaluable in the continued development of connoisseurship skills in this country.

In the following sections of the catalogue, Murase employs a chronological structure to organize the 168 objects selected from the collection and displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; these are thoroughly discussed in the exhibition catalogue. The catalogue is divided into six sections as follows: the Protoliterate Era (ca. 10,500 B.C.–538 A.D.); the Asuka through late Heian period (538–1185); the Kamakura and Nabokuchō periods (1185–1392); the Muromachi period (1392–1573); the Momoyama period (1573–1615); and the Edo period (1615–1868). All periods prior to Edo compose about two-thirds of the book, while Edo takes up the final third; clearly, though the collection strives to be encyclopedic, paintings, lacquer, ceramics, and prints of the Edo period came more easily to the hand of the collector.

Within each section, Murase gives a quick historical overview of the time period, providing background about politics, religious worship, social structure, literature, and evolution of media. These explanations provide a setting to the uninitiated reader without taking the place of a textbook. A lengthy “Selected Readings” appendix gives suggestions to those who want to pursue these ideas further. Rather than dwelling on the social aspects of artwork, Murase concentrates in her individual entries on iconography and style, as well as history of subject and technique, befitting a catalogue of a private collection. Though the information in the book is vast in scope, Murase does not try to make the book serve too many functions. She gives objects first priority and holds to that plan throughout this hefty tome.

Within each of the six main sections, Murase offers smaller essays about specific media or art forms. In her section dealing with Asuka through late Heian period, explanations of “Esoteric Buddhism,” “The Embodiment of Shinto Gods,” “In Praise of Amida Buddha,” and “Kana Script and its Influence” follow an informative historical essay. Her explication often goes beyond the scripted topic, as in the “Kana” section, which continues with descriptions of yamatoe (“Japanese style”) landscape and narrative painting, although more explanation of decorated papers in this section would have been useful.

In the chapter on the Kamakura and Nanbokuchō periods, Murase deals with a number of complex issues of iconography and style within each catalogue entry. She gives a brilliant explanation of Heike monogatari (Tale of the Heike) illustrations, then in a separate essay provides background about “Poets and Poetry Competitions.” Early ink painting has no separate introduction, but the evolution of the genre is explained within individual entries. Following these is a rapid introduction to early lacquer ware. Within this rich and complex chapter, just one point required a comment: The write-up about the mandala of Wakanomiya (cat. no. 32) has no clear explanation for why the figure holds a sword. From reading surrounding entries, one may conclude that the figure carries this attribute because he is an aspect of Monjū, and that it is in fact Monjū’s ignorance-slaying sword.

In the Muromachi period chapter, the wealth of ink paintings in the Burke collection again obviates the need for a separate essay on various schools. Murase illustrates works by followers of the Southern Song painter Mu Qi and of Ming bird-and-flower painters; along with works by Bonpō (ca. 1348–ca.1420), Kenkō Shōkei (fl. ca. 1470–ca. 1518), Shikibu Terutada (fl. mid-sixteenth century), Shūbun (fl. 1414–before 1463), artists in the style of Sesshū, Sesson Shūkei (ca. 1504–ca. 1589), and Kano Motonobu (ca. 1476–1559), among others. It is here that the real depth and value of the Burke collection begins to shine. Murase follows with an introduction to Negoro lacquer ware before proceeding to the chapter on the Momoyama period. No mention is made of yamatoe in the Muromachi period, perhaps based on a dearth of available work in the collection.

There were editing slips within the Muromachi section in Gen Sakamoto’s write-up on the Seikō or Rikō (fl. second half of sixteenth century) hanging scroll of “The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove”: to quote, “four Chinese gentlemen-scholars, the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.” Later in the same essay he seems to claim that two publications of Koga bikō (Notes on Old Painters), both given the date of 1905, have this artist’s seal given with two different readings, which makes no sense. Imperfections in the work of other authors stand in contrast to Murase’s exact manner of writing.

Following her historical essay on the Momoyama period, Murase is once again able to explicate the major schools of painting with examples from the Burke collection, including Kano, Kaihō, Unkoku, and yamatoe manners, before introducing a special section on illustrations of the Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji). In this latter essay, she succinctly recaps her earlier work on this subject into a page and a half, maintaining a disciplined approach to her rationing of text.

A fantastic set of calligraphy and painting introduces us to the work of Hon’ami Kōetsu (1558–1637) and Tawaraya Sōtatsu (d. ca. 1640). Murase follows this by giving two separate introductions to lacquer types, one to Kōdaiji makie (sprinkled metal design) and the other to Nanban lacquer. There were minor glitches in this section. One had to do with the technique of makie, in which Murase says that several layers of black urushi (lacquer) would be painted over a sprinkled design, then scraped away to expose the makie. Instead, it is a polishing rather than this more destructive scraping process that eventually reveals the makie design at the same level as the built-up black layers. Then, in the Nanban section, Murase explains that shortcuts in production, such as no final clear-coat of lacquer, have caused the pieces deteriorate over time. The most serious problem, in fact, was with the lack of preparation of the surface layers. This particular shortcut meant that the upper layers of lacquer lay on a bare surface, and with time, have delaminated from the substrate. The lacquer section is followed by an outstanding group of tea ceramics, again with enough examples provided so that evolving styles and various kiln types are outlined within catalogue entries.

The lengthy Edo-period section is divided with the strengths of the collection in mind. Following her introduction, Murase covers conservative and academic traditions carried over from the Momoyama period and explores works by artists of Kyoto, including Maruyama-Shijō painters and the Eccentrics. In this section, Jakuchū’s White Plum Blossoms and Moon is surely one of the most magnificent among extant paintings of the Edo period. One personal peeve in this section is with the name “Goshun” (1752–1811). Various scholars in Kyoto have told me that the correct use of his name is either Matsumura Gekkei, his haikai poetry name, or Goshun, his painting name. The incorrect conflation of Matsumura and Goshun into the single name used to identify this artist was probably promoted by the writing of Okada Rihei of the Itsuo Museum in Ikeda, which has major holdings of Goshun painting. I hope that we can excise this improper appellation in America.

Providing a break before starting on painting schools more densely represented in the Burke collection, Murase here inserts some breathtaking makie lacquers and an essay on Japanese porcelains. In the catalogue entry on a Kokutani plate that follows, Murase fully documents the archaeological problems of Kokutani, this being much appreciated in light of present turmoil in this area of study.

Murase completes her catalogue with thoroughly explicated and copiously illustrated sections on “The Art of Rimpa,” “Genre and Ukiyo-e,” and “Nanga: The Literary Man’s Painting.” Within the genre section, Murase provides an extremely helpful diagram of a rakuchū-rakugaizu (“scenes in and around the capital”) painting, offering a case of how to do things right. Clearly Burke’s funding and the work of authors and designers together have resulted in a book that is not only beautiful, but extremely useful as well. Burke is unique as a disciplined collector who has promoted full scholarly treatment of the art in her possession. In this catalogue, Murase follows through brilliantly.