Dear Friends
Welcome to our November newsletter.
This month’s newsletter straddles Asian art period in London running from 29th Oct to 10th Nov, with numerous exhibitions and auctions taking place in the city as well as the provinces, also the prestigious LAPADA Fair in Berkeley Square, one of the few remaining fairs to have reinvented itself and bounced back post covid. Good luck to the stand holders, and in particular my many good friends who are rising to the challenge in such difficult times.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult not to be sidetracked by global events with so much going on, midterms in the USA, budget in the UK, continued wars on multiple fronts and latterly the appalling scenes in France and Italy that couldn’t help but shock the world. I am sure we all respect the right to free speech and deserve the right to peaceful protest, after all so many positive things have come from such actions historically, but rioting, looting and destroying historical monuments cannot possibly be condoned, under any circumstances. These were not solely the actions of disenfranchised students, I’m convinced of that.
Here in the relative tranquillity of the beautiful South Coast, I continue to enjoy autumnal morning walks, at least when the recent storms desist, as well as the delights of the maples in the garden. Not quite Kyoto, but I planted this tree from a tiny cutting only a couple of seasons ago, it’s absolutely loving its spot outside my office, and certainly inspires me to get those Tokyo flights booked once again.
We had a dream start to the month of October, following the listing of this rather special Namikawa Yasuyuki Cloisonne enamel vase with the impeccable museum provenance, and formerly part of The Avo Krikorian Collection.
I received early enquiries from both the Far East and the UK, I am delighted to say that the UK based collector placed a deposit on the vase within hours of the newsletter launch. I thank that client for putting his trust in our hands on such a meaningful purchase and I look forward to sharing further pieces by Namikawa Yasuyuki in future newsletters, watch this space!!!
So yet again, holding inventory for the online gallery is proving difficult, and with our lovely photographer, Emma, now out of action for a few weeks, productivity appears to be grinding to an earlier than expected end of year slowdown.
We do have some marvellous pieces of ceramic, silver and mixed metal to photograph and list upon her return, but sadly its going to be a few weeks yet.
However, for this month’s featured item I am pleased to offer this delightful little shibuichi and mixed metal box fully artist signed and sealed. I did own this super little box once before, as I think I alluded to in last month’s newsletter.
As I recall, it was way back in the days of me standing at the Antiques For Everyone Fair in Birmingham, some 12 -14 years ago. I was approached by a lovely couple of retiring dealer collectors, who invited me, and my colleague at the time, to view and subsequently purchase many pieces from their wonderful Japanese collection, one of which was this box. I cannot recall where I sold the box, there was so much changing hands at that time, but some years later it was recorded as sold at Bonhams NYC, so I guess it was to a dealer.
Fast forward to 2026 and I spot it for sale in Japan, the circumstances of its original acquisition were very meaningful to me, I loved this little box and so it simply had to come home. I can now offer it with complete confidence as an object of great beauty and super quality.
And finally, it would be remiss of me not to update you with my latest business venture, some have suggested that I have gone over to the “other side”, but rest assured nothing can be further from the truth, dealing in the finest Japanese Works of Art will remain my lifetime passion.
I am thrilled to have been invited to form a partnership with my long-standing friend and very experienced auctioneer & valuer, Christopher Surfleet. GIA. AJP. Together we have opened an auction house in South Molton, Devon. Surfleet Auctioneers and Valuers.
For many years Chris has worked for London and provincial auction houses, successfully selling hundreds of thousands of lots under the hammer, whilst picking up a vast knowledge of all aspects of the antiques and art world. He has developed a particularly keen eye for Jewellery and objects of virtue, as his GIA accreditations would suggest.
Chris has experienced all aspects of the auction world and how it ticks, both from a positive and negative perspective. He was confident that he could utilise the good and remove the bad to provide a much more user-friendly experience for both buyers and sellers alike. Hitting the big 50 seemingly triggered a pivotal time for Chris to set up his own business and I was delighted to be given the opportunity to be involved.
The improvements mentioned are not rocket science, just good business practice. Starting with accurate descriptions and condition reports, multi high-resolution images, in house postage and packing service. Surfleets are also bucking the market trend of steadily rising auction house fees by offering a very low buyer’s premium of only 20% (plus vat). There are no other hidden stealth charges and we offer super-fast vendor payouts (once in receipt of sales proceeds). These key attributes amongst others are the foundations of the business and have proved pivotal to the success of the first few sales this year, with a high sell through rate and a typical seller payout of less than fifteen working days.
If you are considering selling any items of value at auction, please do contact chris@surfleets.co.uk, by mentioning my name you will be very well looked after on the seller’s commission. If you are considering consigning part or all of an Asian or Japanese works of art collection and would like any advice, then please do contact me in the first instance, steve@steveslyjapaneseart.com.
Best wishes
Steve