A Small Saturday Secret…Shrine Sale in Azabu Juban

While not actually a secret, no one ever seems to list or mention the small shrine sale held in the patio square of Azabu Juban. I guess in all fairness, it isn’t an actual shrine sale as there is no shrine, but the feel is the same. No more than 12 dealers come every first Saturday of the month and they usually pack up by 3 p.m. As it is just down the hill from my house, I go regularly and always get lucky. There is something about small sales that makes shopping easier – like going to a favorite boutique instead of a large department store – it just gives you a more focussed view.

There was a bit of everything this past Saturday – lacquer serving pieces and small chests perfect for holding jewelry.

This set of really pretty Imari plates with tiny diapered patterns.

I can imagine them hanging on the wall in Olya and Charles Thompson’s richly colored Brooklyn brownstone.

An adorable collection of tiny shoyu (soy sauce) dishes, particularly the more unusual blue and white and celadon ones, looks like a plate wall display in miniature…

I loved this tiny wooden hibachi (charcoal brazier) with inlaid wisteria. It had its original copper lining and would be perfect for autumn flower displays. I’ve not seen this wooden style so small – it was about the size of a pineapple.

I also loved these two fabulous huge iron hibachi…

…perfect for planting palms in the Schuyler Samperton style. (And if you love palm trees and layered eclecticism make sure to look through her portfolio).

And for myself? OK, I admit I have gone a little crazy – glass crazy that is. Ever since my finds at Kawagoe I am obsessed with blue-green glass, old bottles and floats! I am not sure if my huge bottle will fit where I want it, so what about a small collection of little bottles, just in case?

These two had visible bubbles in the glass and an older hand blown feel.

The smaller bottle had a threaded neck. When I bought it, I hoped to be able to add a spout or pump and use it for liquid soap.

Kind of like this!

More information on the shrine sale schedule can be found in the tab at the top of the blog. Feel free to email me if you have any questions!

Image credits: 1,2,4,5, 6, 8 & 9. me, 3. Vogue January 2010 , photo credit: Francois Halard, 7. Domino April 2007, photo credit: Paul Costello, 10. Unknown

Nov 7, 2010 By tokyojinja in Glass, Metals, Porcelain and Pottery, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets 4 Comments Tags: flea market, glass bottles, imari, japanese antiques, lacquer, Olya Thompson, porcelain, Schuyler Samperton, shrine sale

Shop Talk…Akariya Kanarusha

I am often asked for suggestions on buying antiques in Tokyo, so this is the first in a series called “Shop Talk”. One of my favorite antique shops, Kanarusha in Fuchu (near the American School) is the perfect mix of a beautifully arranged store with a dusty but treasure filled backroom and attic, providing the best of both worlds. There are items for the immediate gratification folks to take home on the spot and lots to dig through for those who love to make their own discoveries. To clear up a bit of confusion on the name, Akariya is the name of the parent company and also of their high-end shop in the Yoyogi area, while this store is actually called Kanarusha. Rarely do I stop by the more polished shop in Yoyogi, preferring instead the more casual warehouse-style store. Drop in and let Ohashi-san and his staff help you chose just the right piece for your home.

Inside is a treasure trove of objects…

Tansu of every style and region…

An unusual golden mizuya (kitchen) tansu…

In the back rooms, there are shelves filled with everything imaginable, including these ikebana (flower arranging) baskets…

These shelves have iron lanterns, inlaid hibachi (small charcoal heaters) and vintage milk glass fixtures…

Speaking of hibachi, they have this gorgeous imperial lacquer one…

They also have a number of beautiful byobu (screens) including this unusual two-panel made of fabric using a wax resist dye technique and adorned with embroidered details. I think William Morris would have loved this piece.

Here’s a close-up of the detail on the spider web and thistles…

Cranes are lucky and represent long life in Japanese art. This 1930s copper vase inlaid with silver cranes is signed by the artist. Frankly, Art Deco pieces can be rarer than 19th century ones.

Ohashi-san’s pick? This extraordinary choba tansu (merchants chest) from Yonazawa Prefecture made of solid keyaki wood. The gorgeous burl wood has its original finish in dreamy condition. Inside is a shelf and small compartments.

My pick? It has to go to this amazing Meiji period mizuya tansu from the Biwa Lake region near Kyoto. It is super long – a full 105 inches – and the staff have only ever seen one other like it in 30 years of antique dealing. I can just imagine it lining a long wall of a kitchen instead of cabinets. Talk about a room-making piece of furniture.

In addition to the items mentioned above, Akariya specializes in antique doors and ranma transom panels, which can be customzied and used in new construction (building a house anyone?)

A few more great things about Kanarusha…They have their own workshop for repairs and customizations and their restoration is always sympathetic and natural. They are also happy to work with international customers over email with photos and they will ship around the world.

The big news is that Kanarusha is having its big annual Autumn Sale next weekend from Saturday, October 30 – Wednesday, November 3. Everything is 20-35% off the already reasonable prices. The shop is open 10a.m. – 7p.m. (an hour later than usual).

The really big news is that Tokyo Jinja readers can start shopping at sale prices now!! Just stop in between now and Wednesday, October 27 (Kanarusha is closed for set up on Thursday and Friday) and mention the blog and you can have first pick before the big sale starts. You may have to wade through as things are not fully set up for the sale, but isn’t that the best kind of antique shopping anyway?

Interested in tansu? You might want to read my post from last month “What’s Cooking? Tansu in the Kitchen”.

Driving directions from Tokyo: Take Shuto #4 (Chuo Expressway) to the Chofu exit and head towards Fuchu after the toll as if going to ASIJ. Pass the turn at Ajinimoto Stadium and keep going straight on Route 20 for 2 km. There will be a rise in the road (bridge over the train tracks) and at the next light called Shiraitodai Police Box intersection (Family Mart is on the right hand corner) take a right. Kanarusha is immediately on your left. Parking is available.

Image credits: All courtesy of Kanarusha and taken either by me or Ohashi-san.

Oct 23, 2010 By tokyojinja in Shop Talk 14 Comments Tags: baskets, byobu, doors, furniture, ikebana, japanese antiques, lacquer, lighting, porcelain, ranma, screens, tansu

A Masterful Modern Mixmaster…John F. Saladino

“Any fragments from the past, especially those that you can touch, connect you to the makers of those pieces, making you aware that we are threads in a great tapestry of time.”
John Saladino

Often referred to as the “designer’s designer”, John Saladino has been at the absolute top of the design field for over 30 years. He works not only as an interior designer but also as an architectural designer, landscape designer, and in this case, as a curator as well. This June 1998 House & Garden spread features the Colorado home of a couple with an extraordinary collection of antiques and art. Making sense of such a disparate group of items is something that only a master could achieve. Interspersed among the Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities are numerous Japanese antiques of all types. I would be hard pressed to imagine more than one antique screen (byobu) in a house; somehow he manages to integrate three. In testament to Saladino’s triumph, it feels neither like the hodgepodge of an antique store nor has the sterility of a museum, but rather a peaceful and lovely home.

The coffee table boasts a grouping of bamboo letter boxes and what looks to be a bronze hibachi on the raised fireplace hearth.

The dining room/living room has a treasure trove of objects – the first of at least 3 byobu (screens) in the house on the back left hand wall, a kimono rack with an extraordinary brocade (or perhaps embroidered) robe up on the stair landing, a bowl-shaped bamboo ikebana basket between the columns and a rare lacquered trunk in the foreground.

This 17th century antique screen is coupled with an art deco Ruhlman chair, an Italian chest and a Roman bronze head.

Another view of the living room reveals that amazing lacquered trunk, a pair of bronze altar candlesticks and the third screen. The maki-e work on the trunk is covered in symmetrical circular designs called mon or kamon, circular crests used to identify a family, much like a European heraldic coat of arms. For instance, the kamon of the imperial family is the circular chrysanthemum and it’s use by others was prohibited. Gradually mon became used by commoners and then later on as logos for merchants and products. The use of mon as a decorative device can be seen in lacquerware, porcelain and textiles and is one of my favorites. Looking for your own mon? This site has a full dictionary of them.

The serene bedroom has a pair of highly ornamental 18th altar tables being used as small side tables. Definitely use a coaster!

Can you date these rooms without looking back at the beginning of the post? Most likely not, as in addition to their extraordinary beauty, they are also timeless and will never look dated. For me, this agelessness is one of Saladino’s strengths. Another is that his spaces are places in which modernists, traditionalists, classicists, and the like can all agree.

Interested in seeing more? I recommend his books; Villa, which chronicles the renovation and restoration of his elegant 1920s California villa and Style, in which he reveals his design secrets.

Image credits: all from House & Garden, June 1998, Photographed by William Waldron

Sep 23, 2010 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Interior Design, Lacquer, Textiles, Then and Now 7 Comments Tags: altar table, baskets, byobu, john saladino, lacquer