Dear Friends
A warm welcome to our first newsletter of 2025, may I take this opportunity to wish you a healthy and prosperous new year.
December started with our short family break to the beautiful North Yorkshire dales where we stayed in an old stone mill house in a village close to Leyburn, it was a most enjoyable visit with days spent touring the many towns and local attractions, Ryan and I went seeking out the antique shops, whilst the ladies trawled the boutiques. The most bizarre sight was a Father Xmas surfing down a bustling river in the market town of Hawes, still, I guess there aren’t too many beaches in the Yorkshire dales. We loved the mill, the scenery and the many fine food stops along the way. Despite being southerners, we were made to feel welcome by the good folk of Yorkshire, so much so we have already diarised our next visit.
Upon my return, it was swiftly back to business as usual with multiple sales requests to fulfil. The Ando lilies vase and the Chokichi style mixed metal vase both found their way to a long-standing European client’s collection, whilst the finely inlaid Kanazawa school vases were purchased by a UK based collector.
However, the icing on the cake for December, if you’ll excuse the pun, was a most unexpected call from a client looking to purchase the magnificent Shibayama display cabinet that featured at plate 18 of our 2024 Autumn exhibition catalogue. Following a financial jousting session, a deal was swiftly concluded to satisfy both buyer and seller, with delivery scheduled for early in the new year. It probably sounds daft but I shall miss that cabinet, it really is a special piece of furniture as well as very handy storage facility in my gallery. I very much look forward to seeing it on display in its new home. Sincere thanks to the above clients for your much valued business.
Christmas day was a much quieter affair this year, with some of the family understandably visiting their in laws this time around, others staying at home with young babies for their first Christmas. As such we were reduced to number one daughter Rosie and her partner, accompanied by two of our granddaughters Ella and Alice.
As the day unfolded it turned out that six plus Ted was just a perfect number and a lovely day was had by all. As you can see Teddy Boy bagged the best seat in the house during the festive period, that is, when he wasn’t destroying one of his Christmas toys, the reindeer looks happy enough despite Teds inappropriate behaviour.
On boxing day, we met up with Ryan’s family, which included our eldest granddaughter Liana, we spent the day in the marina with a buffet lunch onboard the boat, the weather was gloomy, but the lovely lunch and the tranquil setting sure made up for that.
And so, onto 2025, I look forward to spending the months ahead sourcing some of the finest treasures ever created by man during that magical Meiji period (1816-1912) My main aim is to replace those items sold in last years exhibition with equally rare and exceptional finds for this years proposed exhibition catalogue.
Items such as the incredibly rare Komai crab box, now residing in a very special UK based collection. The stunning court lady vase that was previously exhibited at the 1904 St Louis exposition, has now returned to the USA to join a client’s very select group of Japanese artworks. The large exceptional quality pair of mixed metal vases, dual signed by the artist and designer have joined a very opulent collection in the middle east. And finally, how can I even begin to replace the jewel of a box by arguably the greatest metalworker of a generation, Unno Shomin (1844-1915), now residing in a top level USA collection.
It’s a hell of a challenge to undertake in such a short timeframe, items of the significance of those highlighted above rarely appear on the open market. However, early signs are very promising with multiple finds from collections around the globe already in the bag. Together with my extensive network of contacts the ongoing search will continue. I invite you to share this exciting journey with me as we step into 2025.
For this month’s exclusive featured item, I am pleased to offer you the opportunity to own this delightful Meiji Period pure silver table box, the Shibuichi and mixed metal decorated lid portrays the most charming lakeside scene. Click image for further information.
Best wishes as ever.
Steve