Miye Matsukata (January 27, 1922 – February 16, 1981), sometimes written as Miyé Matsukata, was a Japanese-born American jewelry designer based in Boston, Massachusetts. She was one of the founders of Atelier Janiye and later became the sole owner.

Early life

Miye Matsukata was born in Tokyo."Miye Matsukata Dies; Artist and Sculptor"
''Hartford Courant'' (February 17, 1981): 7. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

Her parents had both lived in the United States before her birth.Haru Matsukata Reischauer
''Samurai and Silk: A Japanese and American Heritage''
(Harvard University Press 1986): 13. Her mother, Miyo Arai, was born in New York into a family with silk importing business, owned by her father,

Arai Ryoichiro Arai Ryoichiro (新井領一郎) (August 31, 1855 April 10, 1939) was a Japanese businessman. He helped to build trade relationships between the United States and Japan, especially in the silk industry. Early life and education Arai was born ...

. Miye's father was Shokuma Matsukata, who was part of the

Matsukata family Matsukata (written: 松方) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese actor *, 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Japan *, Japanese Scout leader See also * Haru Matsukata Reischauer, journalist, granddaughter of Matsuk ...

. Her paternal grandfather was

Matsukata Masayoshi Prince was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1891 to 1892 and 1896 to 1898. Early life Matsukata Masayoshi was born on 25 February 1835, in Arata, Kagoshima, Satsuma Province (present-day Shimoarata, Kagoshima, Kagoshi ...

, Prime Minister of Japan from 1891 to 1892 and from 1896 to 1898; her sisters were

Haru M. Reischauer was a Japanese-American writer and wife of the U.S. scholar and Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer."Seasoned Negotiator: Nobuhiko Ushiba." ''New York Times''. November 14, 1970. Early life and education Haru Matsukata was born in Tokyo. ...

, a writer and wife of the diplomat and scholar

Edwin O. Reischauer Edwin Oldfather Reischauer (; October 15, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and cul ...

, and

Tané Matsukata Nishimachi International School (西町インターナショナルスクール), established in 1949, is an international school located in the Azabu area of Tokyo, Japan. Co-educational, non-sectarian, private K-9 day school. The main language o ...

, founder of the

Nishimachi International School Nishimachi International School (西町インターナショナルスクール), established in 1949, is an international school located in the Azabu area of Tokyo, Japan. Co-educational, non-sectarian, private K-9 day school. The main language o ...

. An uncle,

Kōjirō Matsukata was a Japanese businessman who, in parallel to his professional activities, devoted his life and fortune to amassing a collection of Western art which, he hoped, would become the nucleus of a Japanese national museum focused particularly on mast ...

, was a major collector of Western art in Tokyo. Another uncle,

Saburō Matsukata of Japan, a journalist, businessman and mountaineer, served on the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and was the sixth President of the Boy Scouts of Japan, contributing to the success of the 13th World Scout ...

, was a Japanese alpinist. Miye and her siblings grew up in a bifurcated culture. She spent her youth in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, but was under strong influence by Western culture and education. Miye and her siblings studied at

Principia College Principia College (Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." "Although the College is not affiliated wit ...

, in Illinois. Four of the children including Miye, remained in United States after. Miye Matsukata majored in fine arts at

in Illinois from 1940-1944. She would then attend the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...

, focusing her study on metalsmith and graduating in 1949. During her graduate studies she traveled on scholarship in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

.Debra K. Piot
"Mountains, birds inspire 'wearable sculpture"
''Christian Science Monitor'' (April 9, 1980).

Career

Matsukata designed jewelry in Boston, and established Atelier Janiye (sometimes written as Atelier Janiyé) in the 1949, co-owned with Naomi Katz Harris and Janice Whipple Williams after graduating. The name 'Janiye' originated from the combinations of the three designers first name. In 1958, the group association disbanded and Matsukata took sole ownership of Atelier Janiye. James Hubbard was the business manager and agent, while Nancy Michel, Alexandra Watkins, and Yoshiko Yamamoto created the jewelry based on designs by Matsukata. She was awarded another travel grant to study goldsmithing techniques in the Middle East and in Greece in 1966. In 1968, she organized an exhibition of new American art jewelry at the

Odakyu , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its ''Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company fo ...

Department Store in Tokyo. She was also involved in the Society of North American Goldsmiths. She taught several classes at the

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, commonly called "Haystack," is a craft school located at 89 Haystack School Drive on the coast of Deer Isle, Maine. History Haystack was founded in 1950 by a group of craft artists in the Belfast, Maine area, ...

Deer Isle, Maine Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Stonington Opera House, and the town's many art galleries. ...

in 1976.Robert L. Cardinale
"Master Metalsmith Miyé Matsukata"
''Metalsmith Magazine'' (Spring 1986), reprinted at ''Ganoksin''. Her works was characterized by a mix of media, using beads, stones, coins, glass, enamel, fabric, and other materials in addition to unconventional uses of gold or silver. "Unlike much of the found object jewelry made during the 1960s and '70s," observes one scholar, "Matsukata's work did not celebrate cast-off goods, invoke shamanic tradition, or make sly pop cultural references." Her work is included in the collection of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

Death and legacy

Matsukata faced an unexpected death in 1981 from

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

at the age of 59. Her papers, including sketchbooks, journals, business records, correspondence, and photographs, are in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Atelier Janiye continued as a jewelry studio under Matsukata's associates, Nancy Michel and Alexandra Solowij Watkins, until they retired in 2014. In 2011 a show featuring and inspired by her work, "Atelier Janiyé: And the Legacy of Master Jeweler Miyé Matsukata", was exhibited at the

Fuller Craft Museum Fuller Craft Museum is an arts and crafts museum in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts, 25 miles south of Boston. It receives 20,000 visitors a year. It contains contemporary craft-based art of many different genres and origins. It is the only ...

.Cate McQuaid
"Art to Adorn and Admire"
''Boston Globe'' (January 31, 2011): 3. via

References

External links

Miye Matsukata
at

Miye Matsukata papers, circa 1900-1982, bulk 1964-1981
at

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsukata, Miye 1922 births 1981 deaths Japanese women artists Japanese artists American artists of Japanese descent American women artists Jewellery designers Goldsmiths Miye Japanese emigrants to the United States Artists from Tokyo