Dear Friends
Welcome to our April newsletter.
Spring is here at last, once again the blue tits are nesting in the bird boxes right outside my office window, it is so rewarding to witness these industrious little birds, they make me feel quite lazy. The Easter bank holidays are also on the horizon and thankfully our family boat has been popped back on the mooring following extensive winter servicing and maintenance by Ryan and his team https://enginetekmarine.co.uk/. We are really looking forward to some family days on the water, in fact more so this year than any other as Mrs Sly has decided she is long overdue a new kitchen with walk in butler’s pantry and a relocated utility/boot room. To be fair she is the queen of baking cakes that are now famous with visiting clients from as far afield as the USA and Mumbai … so who am I to disagree. With five to six weeks of restricted kitchen facilities and general upheaval ahead the boat will be a welcome sanctuary.
March seemed a little slower in terms of sales enquiries, little surprise with what’s currently going on in the world, but it was busier in terms of acquisitions which is equally rewarding, after all we cannot achieve one without the other.
I did however sell this magical pure silver and mixed metal okimono of a pair of Manchurian cranes to a UK based lady collector, unsigned, but of a quality that would indicate an artist such as Hasegawa Issei.
I also finally managed to sell my monumental silver and mixed metal bowl that had served me so well as a floral feature at the Masterpiece exhibition in 2022 but had failed to find a home on the online gallery ever since. Often things of such scale really do need seeing in the flesh, as was the case here with this huge 176 Oz silver bowl now looking resplendent in its new home. The bowl still houses the very display that featured at my show. Thank you to the above clients for their very valuable business.
Amongst other sales last month was the beautiful little Yabu Meizan millefiori dish and the damascened iron box housing the most charming scene of a bijin alongside her dog, once again going to UK based clients.
As I touched on earlier in the year, I have been slowly curating a group of market fresh items that I deem worthy of exhibiting in my proposed Autumn catalogue. As the months tick by it is evident that a handful of pieces of high-quality metalwork have fallen into a certain style, or more specifically are from the studio of one artist, yet all of those pieces have been individually sourced from various points around the globe, it really is interesting how it comes together over a twelve-month period.
Whilst still light in terms of numbers, I am really pleased with the overall quality as well as the scarcity of one or two very special pieces. I have a long way to go, but I am excited to be sharing these pieces exclusively with you later in the year.
On what is traditionally April fool’s day in the UK, I am certainly not joking when I suggest that this month exclusive featured item is a very rare opportunity to welcome a member of the parrot family to your home. On this occasion a most charming silvered bronze and mixed metal cockatoo on his original stand, both pieces fully signed by Mitani, a well recorded Meiji period artist. Simply click on the image for full details.
Now then, where have I put that microwave cookbook?
Best wishes
Steve