Dear Friends
Welcome to our March Newsletter.
At home here in the UK It seems that spring has finally arrived and how welcome it is. Following on from last month’s theme of wildlife in the garden I was pleased to see the blue tits preparing for life in the bird box once again, they really are remarkably industrious little birds, as you will see below they have been landing in the bonsai just outside my office window and plucking out nesting materials, for some reason, unknown to me, they have also been flying at and pecking the office windows on a regular basis, maybe it’s the light that attracts them, equally it could be my legs now that the shorts are back out for the season.
Another visitor returning to uncover the nuts he buried in December was our resident squirrel, he’s quite adventurous to say the least, I have once again had to wire the bird feeder to the pole just to stop him emptying the entire contents onto the lawn, it’s all good fun and very therapeutic I have to say.
As we enter the springtime it seemed quite apt that our “Mad March Hares” have found a new home with a UK based collector, this delightful pair were reputedly once owned by the mother of the Taisho Emperor, Lady Yanagihara Naruko, according to the script on the tomobako. The new owner kindly acknowledged safe receipt and declared them as “fantastic items”, thank you to that returning client.
As well as the hares finding a new home, I have managed to sell multiple items from 18th century Arita ceramics & 19th century Okimono as well as some of the last of the 20th century enamels from the USA collection.
If you are interested in the final two pieces of enamel from that extensive USA collection then I would be very keen to close the book on this particular deal. As such each of these two highly decorative and perfect examples are offered at a 50% discount exclusively to our members. The large vibrant silver rimmed Iris vase is particularly beautiful and really doesn’t require any flowers on display, although that is personal choice of course, whilst the more neutral coloured vase is also silver mounted, once again by Ando, and will blend seamlessly into most settings. These vases now represent stunning value being offered at less than my original cost prices. I would genuinely love a loyal member to snap them up, free shipping is also included.
On the subject of floral displays, I wanted to show you the large Ikebana basket that I recently purchased on my Japanese trip, I was painstakingly researching the artist in preparation for listing on the gallery when suddenly it was spotted by Mrs Sly, who declared she may just have the perfect spot for it, next to our fireplace in the lounge area.
I think you’ll agree the transformation is quite impressive, and all her own work, bang goes that potential profit opportunity I guess? Sorry about that folks.
Onto the subject of spring cleaning, whilst tackling a clean-up in the stores it dawned on me that I still have numerous boxes of exhibition catalogues taking up valuable space, I would much sooner free up that space and get these books onto your coffee tables and bookshelves whilst at the same time help the wildlife in some small way. As such I am offering you this limited opportunity of paying for just one and getting the other two free. So that is only £25 for all three exhibition books.
WITH ALL SALES PROCEEDS BEING DONATED TO THE RSPCA, what’s not to like!!
In order to maximise donations please add £10 towards UK delivery and £20 towards worldwide delivery. Simply e-mail steve@steveslyjapaneseart.com with your delivery address and I will ping you an invoice for payment. Thank you for supporting this initiative in helping the RSPCA carry out their invaluable work at such difficult times. I look forward to updating you with the total donated in the near future.
Last month I eventually tracked down our ever-popular photographer Emma, which in turn enabled us to list these lovely Satsuma vases by Kinkozan as well as the charming owl okimono upon a rootwood branch, please do take a look by clicking each thumbnail.
Finally, on the subject of wildlife, for this month’s exclusive featured item I am delighted to introduce this monumental Japanese silk textile, that has just arrived in a container from the USA. Please excuse some of the very raw images but I think they will give you an idea of the sheer scale and magnitude of this most impressive wall hanging, please take a look by clicking into the image.
Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes
Steve