Dear Friends
Welcome to our January 2024 newsletter, wherever you are in the world may I take this opportunity to wish you all a healthy and happy new year!!
I trust that you all had an enjoyable festive break, following two years of Christmas lunches in the beautiful New Forest it was decided that a more traditionally themed Christmas was to be spent at home this year, a large Nordic fir filled one end of the room that lady Sly had painstakingly decorated with handmade bows, napkin rings, cakes and goodie bags, in fact this year’s theme seemed to be much more about homemade and locally sourced produce as opposed to the mass produced imports of years gone by. Of course, there is still room to improve, but I have to say the overall aesthetic did seem to provide a much more homely feel.
Mindful of family members budgets and unnecessary overindulgence gifts were limited to one per adult, with recipients picked out of a hat in advance, once again this secret Santa theme worked really well and a fun time was had by all.
Pictured below are two of the granddaughters eagerly awaiting present opening time, this is one enjoyable part of the festive season that should never change.
Following my return from Japan the year finished on an unexpected high in terms of sales enquiries, starting as early as 06.45 on the 1st December with our featured item “Fascinating Japanese Cloisonne Enamel Box Attr- Kumeno teitaro “ finding a new home in the UK, I’m sure the recipient will not mind me sharing a snippet of his feedback upon safe arrival “Unfortunately it now makes other cloisonné look rather primitive in comparison”, thank you to that particular gentleman.
Another stand out sale in early December were the “ Exceptional Japanese Silver and Mixed Metal Vases “ that I featured at plate 16 of my Autumn exhibition catalogue, attributed to Hasegawa Issei.
These vases are on their way to join an outstanding collection of Japanese metalwork and other Japanese works of art that this discerning collector kindly shared images of. I am so pleased that they were appreciated and deemed worthy of joining such a fine selection, sincere thanks to this client for placing his trust in my hands, I look forward to seeing them in situ.
Just before Christmas there was a last-minute call to deliver this serene ceramic okimono of the Goddess Kwannon to a west country home, I was pleased to hear that it arrived safely the very next day, even amongst all the Christmas post the correctly chosen service stood the test, thank you to that particular buyer. Feedback suggested the okimono was to be the finishing touches to a recently decorated oriental themed room, where I am sure she will bring much pleasure for years to come.
In other news my pieces from Japan arrived safely just before the Christmas break and I look forward to sharing these with you once photographed, researched, and listed.
However, for Januarys exclusive featured listings I am delighted to showcase this fine selection of market fresh Makuzu Kozan studio ceramics that have just arrived from an established USA collection. The two bird themed vessels are really fabulous unique items as you can see, but for me the Mandarin ducks are just divine, really well potted and beautifully painted, don’t miss them!!
A great start to 2024 I hope you will agree.
Best wishes
Steve