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Heiwajima was Heavenly…

Today was the first day of three at the Heiwajima Antiques Fair. A huge antiques show with hundreds of dealers, there is always something for everyone and today did not disappoint.

It was porcelain heaven.

It was soba choko heaven.

It was kimono heaven.

It was kokeshi doll heaven. Big…

…and small.

It was tansu heaven. (This is Akariya’s wonderful booth)

It was obi dome heaven.

It was scroll painting heaven.

It was indigo heaven.

The show continues tomorrow and Sunday and is open from 10-5. It is well worth a visit.

Quick Addendum…What I Bought

In response to an email, I wanted to follow up with my purchase (only 1 thing! shocking!) from Heiwajima. Because I was so busy thinking about the blog and taking photos, I didn’t really shop for myself. Also, I made a solemn vow to myself that the beach house I am furnishing back in the USA will not have any Japanese or Asian antiques, so I am not really in the market for much right now. That said, I did buy some beautiful silk ikat kimono pieces with a floral pattern in just that wonderful plum I love. I am thinking it would make some great small cushions. (The color is less bright than it appears in the photo.)

Driving directions for folks in Tokyo: Head out on the Shuto #1 towards Haneda (as if you were going to the Kawasaki Costco). The Heiwajima exit is a few after Shibaura. Take the Heiwajima exit and continue straight for about a mile at most. There will be a left turn sign that says Ryutsu Center. Turn left there. Turn left again into the loading dock area and drive to the end. Turn left at the end and you will see P1 parking ahead on your right. The M3 level sends you straight in and there is a good tonkatsu place for lunch.

Sep 24, 2010 By tokyojinja in Antique Shows, Ephemera, Furniture, Jewelry and Accessories, Lacquer, Porcelain and Pottery, Textiles

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 Tags: altar table, baskets, byobu, john saladino, lacquer

A Shrine Sale By Any Other Name…Is Really A Flea Market

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Romeo and Juliet

Only a true antiques junkie would find the promise of wonderful flea markets the big consolation prize for moving half way around the world. But what’s a shrine sale? At a jinja? A house of worship didn’t seem like a logical place to hold a bustling flea market.

A jinja (also jingu) is the Japanese word for a Shinto shrine, as opposed to a Buddhist temple (tera, sometimes said dera and the kanji can also be read as ji). Throughout the centuries, markets have been held on the grounds as they were central meeting places.

At the entrance to the jinja stands a large torii or gate, marking the separation of the mundane and the sacred. Shrine sales tend to be held in the outer courtyards and grounds.

The information below is a basic schedule of shrine sales near central Tokyo, as well as some special markets and events in the Kanto plains region. It is in no way comprehensive and decidedly skewed towards the location of my home. It will appear as a permanent tab at the top of the blog (near the “about me” tab) for ease and convenience. I will be updating and adding to it in the coming weeks, including adding sections on Yokohama and Kyoto. In the meantime, feel free to email me at jacquelinewein[at]yahoo.com with questions.

Shrine Sale and Antique Market Schedule Autumn/Winter 2010

First Sunday of the Month

Togo Shrine – 3 min walk from Harajuku station (JR Yamanote line) or a 5 min walk from Jingumae station (Chiyoda line). This is probably the most foreigner friendly shrine sale because of the convenient location and large number and variety of dealers. I think prices can be slightly higher here.
Oedo Antique Market at International Forum http://antique-market.jp/eng/index.shtml See map as there are many subway choices. There is also plenty of parking available. A very large market, with about 1/3 non-Japanese items in a very convenient and pleasant shady setting.

Second Sunday of the Month

Nogi Shrine – Next to Nogizaka station (Chiyoda line). Not held in November. A conveniently located small sale with nice dealers.

Third Sunday of the Month

Oedo Antique Market at International Forum http://antique-market.jp/eng/index.shtml Not held in December. See map as there are many subway choices. There is also plenty of parking available. See above for description. I prefer the third Sunday market to the first Sunday market.

Every Sunday of the Month

Yaskuni Shrine – 5 minute walk from Kudanshita Station ( Tozai Line, Hanzomon Line or Toei Shinjuku Line) or 10 minute walk from Ichigaya Station (Namboku Line, Yurakucho Line, Toei Shinjuku Line or JR Sobu Line). Parking lot on site. This market varies from weekend to weekend but can be excellent.
Hanazono Shrine – 6-7 minute walk from Shinjuku Sanchome station (Toei Shinjuku, Marunouchi lines). An historic market that has really dwindled to very little over the years. Most days I give it the pass, although it is conveneient to stop by if you are already traveling to Yaskuni-jinja.

First Saturday of the Month

Patio Street in Azabu Juban – 3 minute walk from Aazbu Juban station (Toei Oedo, Namboku lines). A small sale with about 10 vendors, but easy and convenient to stop by.

28th of every Month

Kawagoe, an old castle town 40km north of Tokyo has one of the best shrine sales on the grounds of Narita-san Betsu-in. It is about 10-15 minute walk from Hon-Kawagoe station on the Seibu Shinjuku line. You can also take other trains to Kawagoe station, which is a further walk. There is parking, but it tends to fill by early in the morning. A very large sale with unusual and high quality dealers. My de-facto favorite!

Other Events

Heiwajima Antique Fair is a huge antiques fair with hundreds of dealers held 4 times a year In the Ryutsu Center. Expect high quality merchandise (and sometimes prices to match) as well as lots of Western antiques. Tokyo Ryutsu Center station on the Tokyo Monorail–change trains at JR line Hamamatsucho station. Plenty of paid parking is also available.

September 24-26
December 17-19

Enjoy!

Sep 21, 2010 By tokyojinja in Shrine Sales and Flea Markets Tags: japanese antiques

A Curtain’s Leading Edge…a New Idea for Kaku-obi

Vintage and antique obi (the wide sashes tied around Japanese traditional dress called kimono) abound at shrine sales and markets. Most purchasers plan on wearing them. Others buy them just for the beauty of the textiles as they are most commonly made of silk, cotton or rayon and use many different weaving and dyeing techniques from brocade to ikat. Still others see the decorative possibilities in these long strips of fabric.

Note the obi fabric pillow on the small red banquette in Cecil Beaton’s London townhouse living room, photographed for Architectural Digest circa 1969.

Fashion designer Trina Turk uses an obi as a table runner in the dining room of her Los Angeles home (Elle Decor Aug. 2007).

While women’s obi have long been collected and made into throw pillows, table runners and the like, men’s obi, called kaku-obi, are not seen in interior design. I have long thought that their narrow shape, stiff feel, and simple graphic patterns would make them useful for some other purpose. But what? Today, at the Oedo Antique Fair, they caught my eye at a number of booths.

How they are tied was a mystery to me, and frankly, the dealer selling them did not know either. In classic Japan style, another customer overheared our discussion, and offered to teach me how. The dealer’s partner served as the model and I got a great lesson on how to tie kaku-obi.

My somewhat credible (according to them) second attempt.

Thanks ladies! They also had great kimono and indigo dyed fabrics.

A charming detail found on some of the best curtains is a contrasting leading edge or decorative tape. Two wildly different style rooms below illustrate this design. Both make use of a greek key tape on the curtain edge and, in the case of the Miles Redd dining room, on the bottom edge as well.

Grant K. Gibson’s San Francisco bedroom via The New York Times.

Miles Redd designed dining room featured in Elle Decor Jan./Feb. 2009.

Don’t you think one of the simple two tone kaku-obi would be perfect to edge a curtain? Trim a bedskirt or a chair? Finish off a valence?

Image credits: 1. Architectural Digest, 2. Roger Davies for Elle Decor, 3-6. me, 7. Peter DaSilva for The New York Times, 8. Simon Upton for Elle Decor

Sep 19, 2010 By tokyojinja in Interior Design, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets, Textiles Tags: curtains, grant k. gibson, kimono, miles redd, obi

What’s Cooking? Tansu in the Kitchen

People are often surprised by the limited variety of traditional and antique Japanese furniture. Historically, rooms were open spaces, used for a variety of functions. There were no sofas or armchairs or beds. Small low tables used by day could be cleared and bedding laid out to be used by night. Large chests or cupboards, called tansu, were used to store everything from clothing to bedding to kitchen utensils. Tansu also functioned as the “business centers” of merchants and sea captains. In the Edo period, tansu size, design and decoration were indicative of status and rigidly controlled. With the advent of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, tansu design was freed from control and regional centers developed their own vernacular.

Styles of tansu include the well-known kaidan-dansu (step cupboard) used for both storage and access to upper floors, the rare and unusual kuruma-dansu (wheeled chest) which could be easily moved, many different styles of isho-dansu (clothing chest) used to store kimono, choba-dansu (merchants chest) used to store valuables and documents and, for the purposes of this post, mizuya-tansu (kitchen cupboard), which were the heart of kitchen storage. Like many tansu, mizuya tansu were made of two horizontal cabinet pieces that stacked one above the other, allowing for movement and flexibility, although they lack the carrying handles often found on smaller tansu. While depth is fairly constant, width can vary from narrow styles (30-40″) which tend to have simpler more symmetrical fronts to wider styles (60-80″) in which it is common to have an asymmetrical design with varied small doors and drawers. A particularly charming detail that is commonly found is a sliding door lined with chicken wire or paper allowing for some visual display and air movement.

Today, adding a tansu into a design scheme is easy, as they work in both traditional and modern settings. Michael Smith uses a beautiful Edo period mizuya tansu in a completely modern kitchen, just in the manner for which it was designed.

In the Japanese-inspired kitchen designed by Marguerite Rogers and featured in House Beautiful, traditional sliding doors based on tansu were used for the kitchen cabinets. The iron work details and wood joinery mimic the tradional techniques found on antique tansu.

Compare the details of the iron work and the wooden joinery on these new cabinets with the details on the antique ones above. Pretty amazing how the dishwasher has been disguised.

Modern day cabinet companies such as Greentea are also looking to tansu for kitchen cabinet design. Kim at Desire to Inspire worked with them to create her dream kitchen. In addition to cabinets, she chose a free-standing tansu for extra storage.

And of course, there is no reason why you cannot use your mizuya tansu anywhere else in the house. They are great in the dining room, holding bed linens or clothes in the bedroom, hiding knitting stashes and all sorts of junk. Some later mizuya or choba tansu have glass panels for display – they too work perfectly in kitchens and dining rooms.

I have a large tansu, probably meant for shop display, but similar in shape to a mizuya tansu. I currently use it as a bookcase in my guest bedroom, but bought it with dreams of a large kitchen. Can’t you just see it in a kitchen, stacked full of transferware, glass and silver?

Image credits:1. V. Felgner, 2 & 3. Okura Antiques, 4. me, 5. via Chinoiserie Chic, 6-9. via House Beautiful, photo credit Eric Piasecki, 10-12. via Desire to Inspire, 13. K. Morganstern, 14. me

Sep 17, 2010 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Interior Design, Kitchens Tags: japanese antiques, michael smith, tansu

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