Dear Friends
Welcome to our June newsletter.
The month of May has continued to provide glorious Spring weather, this gave us the opportunity to have a few meals down in the marina whilst the building team literally performed open heart surgery on Mrs Sly’s kitchen and utility areas. Thankfully they have finished the project on time and the dust has settled, quite literally. The result has certainly been worth the six weeks of upheaval, I now have a very happy wife which should translate to a happy life … ooh, and hopefully lots more delicious homemade cakes for special visitors, following tasting of course 😊
Whilst on the subject of marine life, our magnificent Iki Ningyo sculpture of a fisherman battling an octopus is currently aboard a container ship heading for the USA where it is due to arrive in early June, the sculpture will eventually be residing in New York City at the home of its new owners.
Following consultation with our trusted shippers It was decided that air freight was far too risky for such a valuable, fragile and historically important piece such as this, as such it was expertly crated and palleted for sea freight. I am confident that once in situ the new owners will be delighted with this dramatic sculpture. Sincere thanks to these valued clients for placing their trust in my hands.
With gardens in full bloom It is probably no surprise that a couple of our other sales this month involved planters, the first sale was the charming Goose jardiniere by Genryusai Seiya, it had actually ventured into our lounge at home for a while prior to the recent refurb, its design and facial expressions really are so comical, this model has always been the most popular of Seiya’s range of jardinieres. It is now joining the collection of a UK based lady who recently purchased our Seiya animalia jardiniere, I am sure they will look splendid together, many thanks for your repeat business.
Another sold item this month was this very functional early 18th century Edo period Postiche, now lacking its original lid, but the sheer scale of it rendered it perfect as a plant holder, an increasingly rare perfect survivor of some 300 years now put to good use.
In other news, I have now officially pressed the production button on the proposed Autumn 2025 exhibition catalogue. Last month I was fortunate to be offered a couple of great mixed metal items from a trusted source in Japan, including one item deaccessioned from a famous museum. I also secured a great piece of metalwork in the USA, an item that ties in perfectly with a specific group of pieces in this years exhibition. These latest finds provided me with the confidence that I needed to press ahead with production, I am excited to be sharing these finds exclusively with you later in the year.
This month’s exclusive featured item is another market fresh find, this delightful silver lined iron Kogo (incense container) has just arrived from Japan nestled within its original artist signed tomobako, simply click the image for further details.
Whilst working in my garden office last week I was distracted by a buzzing sound, lifting forward a chair revealed this gorgeous dragonfly captured in a spiders web, somehow, with hands the size of shovels, I managed to gently pluck him from the web and clean his legs of web residue, so delicate was the task as you can see by the image. Once I gently popped him down on a piece of paper he allowed me the opportunity of a quick photo before safely flying away, sorry spider, but you were not eating this stunning creature !!
Best wishes
Steve