Japanese Works of Art

Almost a quarter of a century after it was stolen from its walls, the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery is again appealing for the return of a Japanese woodblock print that once belonged to Vincent van Gogh.

A massive gulf exists between the very best quality Meiji period (1868-1912) works and the rest.

THE last of the four annual selling shows of Japanese woodblock prints at The Japanese Gallery, 66D Kensington Church Street, London W8, is Cats, Birds and Flowers which opened earlier this month and continues until February 28, 2005.

FOR their selling exhibition of 70 Japanese woodblock prints to the end of November, the Japanese Gallery at 66D Kensington Church Street, London W8 have chosen the theme Snow, Moon & Flowers.

AN impressive sight at 24in (61cm) high on its hardwood base, this Japanese Meiji period bronze cockerel provided the clear highlight of the quarterly antiques and fine art sale conducted by ELR (15% buyer’s premium) at the Sheffield Saleroom on June 11.

THE considerable coverage given to Asia Week in London, on these pages and in the national press, rather neglected one gallery which was bringing the art of the Orient to London long before the Asia week promotion was thought of.

GOOD-quality mahogany and oak furniture took most of the better prices in Mitchells' (15% buyer's premium) 1566-lot May 13-14 auction which totalled £325,000.

Comprising 60 oban panels that form 20 triptychs, a concertina form, Senso-e album of c.1895 that sold for £3200 as part of a May 27 sale of original drawings and watercolours, prints and maps held by Bloomsbury Auctions is a record of events of the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95 in which Japan’s modernised armed forces gained a swift and comparatively easy victory over the much larger Chinese forces.

THE Orient provided the most eye-catching highlights at Rupert Toovey's (15% buyer's premium) March 17-19 sale, in the form of a set of four Japanese Satsuma plates signed by Kinkozan and an 18th century Chinese bamboo carving.

A SET of four late-18th century Japanese gold lacquered panels caused a flurry of international interest when they came up for sale at Rossini (19.94% buyer’s premium) back on April 2.

THERE were few exceptional entries at McTear's (15% buyer's premium) March 19 sale but take-up was steady with 88 per cent of the 473 lots getting away.

VOLUME sales have their value but the conscious decision of Cambridge auctioneers Cheffins (15% buyer's premium) to go for quality rather than quantity – relegating lower-end consignments to fortnightly general outings and keeping the best for five well-promoted annual sales – has proved a winning format.

CAN a mere movie affect the antiques market? The answer would appear to be yes, at least in New York where, since the release of The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, interest in the ancient Japanese weapons of the Samurai has soared with a significant number of new collectors entering the field declaring they have been inspired by the film.

STAYING in New York, dealers in Japanese works of art Flying Cranes Antiques hold a selling exhibition of Japanese Ikebana baskets at their galleries within the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center, 1050 Second Avenue at 56th Street, until January 31.

USA: NEW YORK’s top antiques centre, the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center at 1050 Second Avenue (between 55th and 56th Streets), presents a special celebration Fall in Manhattan from October 23 to 31, when a selection of top dealers from the 100 housed in the building present selling shows of recent acquisitions.

It’s not often a sale devoted entirely to a single owner collection of Netsukes turns up in the provinces but this was exactly what happened on June 18 at Halls (15% buyer’s premium) Shrewsbury salerooms.

THE name of Namikawa Yasuyuki is justly positioned in the premier league of Meiji metalworkers as one of the very finest cloisonné workshops working in the late 19th/early 20th century.

HALLS of Shrewsbury will be taking a very active part in next month’s Asian Art Week, having turned up a 157-piece collection of netsuke in the Midlands.

NOTED New York specialists in Japanese works of art Flying Cranes are not only showing at the International Asian Art Fair from March 28 to April 2 at the Seventh Regiment Armory, they also hold an exhibition of exceptional Japanese studio ceramics by 19th century court artists at their main showroom, Gallery 58 at the Manhattan Art & Antiques Center, 1050 Second Avenue at 56th Street.

Kazari: Decoration and Display in Japan: 15th-19th Centuries, edited by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, published by The British Museum Press. ISBN 0714126365 £24.99sb