Ando Cloisonné Company (安藤七宝店) is a Japanese cloisonné making company located in Sakae, Nagoya, central Japan.
History
Owari province was one of the foremost production centres of enamel in the country.[1] During the Edo period the Andō family operated a pipe shop called "Murata-ya". Andō Jubei (Jusaburo) (1876–1953) was born in Nagoya as the fourth child, with three elder sisters. His mother died in May 1877 following an illness, and his father followed in September 1877. Orphaned at less than one year old, he was raised according to his father's will by staff employers. His older sister married Andō Juzaemon, whose birth name was Matsukichi. Together with his brother-in-law, they made the cloisonné company a success. In 1893, Andō Juzaemon went to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was his first time to travel overseas, and he used the opportunity to study the market. In 1901, Andō Jubei went to the Glasgow International Exhibition, which was his first overseas travel, and he stayed for two years in a British home to study the market.
After they returned to Japan, they invited Kawade Shibatarō (1856–1921) as head of the studio, who further developed plique-à-jour. Cloisonné experienced strong growth around the time of the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. Japanese enamel work became sought after in the West, and many pieces were sourced from Toshima, which is the origin of Owari cloisonné.