Dear Friends
Welcome to our October newsletter.
September delivered up the usual series of auction sales as part of Asian art New York week, as well as a sale in Japan of primarily mixed metal works. First up was the Japan sale which started at 02.00am UK time, I did leave some early morning bids online prior to sitting at the computer bleary eyed about 04.00am, a couple of strong coffees helped me through.
Whilst I managed to purchase a few nice items, one of which I had owned some twelve years back, I was unable to purchase the piece I really coveted. Typically, the final lot in the sale was the best piece, a most charming Iron Koro by Unno Shomin that raced away to an eye watering 15,200,000 JPY (£73,000) plus 25% buyers’ fees. I guess I was somewhat naive to think I could prize this masterpiece from the backyard of the actual master who created it, but “a faint heart never won a fair maiden”, I did give it a damn good go.
Over to NYC, where the star lot for me was a large 17 ½” Komai charger estimated $20-30,000… At $60,000 plus 30% fees, plus 5% import duty, I had run out of steam and stopped bidding, eventually seeing it escape at $75,000, probably to the end collector.
Whosoever quoted that, “it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts”, clearly never got wrapped up in the emotion of this game. I was not a happy chap, but I did manage to secure a couple of very decent pieces at lower profile sales outside of NYC, as some consolation.
And once again it proves the very best Meiji period metalworks have and will always be highly prized, and so the search goes on.
As I walked Ted on the beach on Tuesday morning the 1st of September, which is a daily occurrence, my iPhone pinged in my pocket, it seems I am never truly switched off from business. To my delight an email had arrived from an existing UK client, a gentleman who had previously purchased some high value Japanese metalworks from me. This enquiry was on the newly listed Mohei vase with the mythical Shi Shi and Phoenix enamel panels, a perfect fit for this particular collector, a deal was very quickly agreed to include white glove delivery to his home.
If I am honest, I have found the sales of ceramics, particularly Satsuma, to have slowed down of late, possibly due to the Trump Tariffs prohibiting what was historically the biggest marketplace, the USA, from competing on a level footing, thankfully those tariffs are no more and the Americans can once again collect without being penalised.
Much like waiting for a bus, there’s no bus for an age then along come three at once, well on this occasion a long-standing client makes contact out of the blue to purchase the three Imperial Satsuma decorated okimono pictured above.
Sincere thanks to these returning clients for continuing to place their trust in my hands year after year.
Whilst on the subject of trust, I have become increasingly frustrated with Japanese works of art appearing for sale either in auction or online marketplaces and even high-profile vetted fairs, that are clearly not what they are being represented as.
I refer in just one example to enamels by Namikawa Yasayuki. As a dealer I have search terms saved in my phone to alert me of the latest listings as they appear worldwide, you would be staggered to see the pieces of commercial mass produced cloisonne that are attributed to, or are described as, in the manner of Namikawa.
Yes, I get that it is a powerful attention-grabbing name, but some of the pieces are so far away from a real Namikawa that its actually embarrassing to see, mostly described unwittingly I’m sure, but not always the case as some of these pieces do bear spurious signature plaques. These items often end up in dealers hands, some of whom may even assume they are genuine, then of course these works can be passed on to unsuspecting clients.
As with so much higher value artwork of all genres, particularly Asian art, traceable provenance is so often the key to a successful purchase, if you are unsure of any item on offer at auction or if it is out of context with a dealer’s usual level of stock, then always seek expert guidance would be the best advice.
This brings me nicely onto this month’s very special featured item that carries an impeccable provenance. This stunning vase by Namikawa Yasuyuki is another of the items that I sourced as part of the Kyomizu Sannenzaka museum collection of the late Mr Murata, this masterpiece has been tucked away at my home and reserved exclusively for the members area to coincide with Asian art London period starting this month.
The vase was previously recorded as part of the Avo Krikorian collection that was sold by Christies, Geneva, 2007. We have library references to support the history of this very important piece of enamel by the most highly coveted enamellist of the golden era. I truly hope it inspires one of you to continue to preserve this masterpiece as part of your collection. The price point is not particularly low, the best pieces rarely are, but equally when considering its sale price of some 20 years ago equates to almost £50,000, I feel strongly that its value has proved it to be a very solid investment that should continue to reap rewards and give immense pleasure in the coming years.
And finally, I was so proud as a lifelong AFC Bournemouth supporter to be amongst a very fortunate group of around 2,000 fans that witnessed the clubs first ever game in Europe against Real Sociedad, in the beautiful northern Spanish city of San Sebastian, a match we won 2-1.
I first set foot in Dean Court, now the Vitality Stadium, as a young lad of around 12 years old, that with his mate had climbed over the fence and hidden in the toilets until the gates opened, at which point we sheepishly made our way onto the terrace, I can’t recall who we played or the result, but that was it, I was hooked for life.
The resulting 50-year journey from young fan to executive box holder, youth team sponsor, director, then eventually in 2007 as vice chairman and co-owner. The lows of the inevitable administration with sanctions of minus 17 points and almost going out of the football league. Followed by successive promotions up to the Premier League in 2015 and some years later European football. It really is the stuff of dreams with some nightmare lows along the way, the journey probably deserves a book at some future point in time, boy have I got some tales to tell with more than a few famous faces involved along the way, but that’s for another day perhaps?
For now, I just feel so proud to have played a small part in the clubs amazing journey to European football.
Best wishes
Steve