Lacquer

Sourcing Antiques for Michael Smith Interiors

Last month’s posts on Japanese furniture in the White House and Imari porcelain lead me right to my next subject – Michael S. Smith, designer extraordinaire and decorator to the Obamas.

Michael Smith first imprinted himself on my consciousness with the apartment he designed for Cindy Crawford in the Police Building in New York City. I still have the entire Oct/Nov. 1997 issue of Elle Decor because I could not bear to tear out the pages. The apartment impressed me so much because it reminded me of my own – both the physical space and the look I was trying to achieve in decorating it. Smith seemed to bring a fresh view on using classic antiques paired with ethnic textiles and touches. I knew he was a talent to watch and I have early tear sheets of the homes he decorated for movie producers, actors and other Hollywood royalty in my files, including the first home Smith designed for actor James Belushi. This November, Architectural Digest featured Belushi’s new California home designed by Michael Smith, of course, but I think I like the smaller original one better!

Smith studied art at University, then worked briefly for antiques dealer Gep Durenberger and trained under John Saladino for a few years. You can see the Saladino influence on his designs, but whereas Saladino is more of a pure classicist, Smith adds the layering of traditional English country house style to his projects. When Saladino works with fine antiques, there is curatorial aspect to his perspective, art objet versus furniture. Smith’s interiors appear as though all the fine things are really used. After working with Saladino, he opened a home furnishings store in California. I imagine that is how he met all his early Hollywood clients.

As Smith mines deeply the lexicon of Japanese decorative arts, from furniture to folk craft to lighting, I thought it would be great fun to try to source the items in some of his interiors. I tried to stay local, but occasionally had to resort to the internet (and even use a piece of my own). First up is his New York apartment, featured in Elle Decor. The standout piece is the isho tansu (clothing chest) in the right hand corner of the living room. Also note the Japanese style blinds and the covered Imari urn on the left hand side bookcase. I’ve written so much about Imari porcelain lately, that I won’t post another photo here…

Here is a standout Sendai region tansu very similar to the one in his living room.

Next up are the door panels mounted to the wall in his entry hall in Manhattan. The grill work pattern is a classic, one of the most common Japanese motifs called seigaiha or seikaiha (English translation spelling varies). Used extensively throughout the decorative arts on textiles, ceramics, etc., it is also often seen on exterior buildings and walls. My best match up is a similar door with an overlayed circle pattern called shippou-tsunagi (seven treasures pattern).

Smith seems to enjoy using Japanese pieces in his own homes. Moving on from Manhattan to his home in Bel Air, also featured in Elle Decor, we find traditional low tables used in the living room and sunroom. These tables were not originally made to be used as coffee tables – sitting on the floor was the norm, therefore the low height. Some smaller low tables were used for altar displays.

Here is an art deco era lacquer low table, combining the curved legs of the table in the living room, with some of the color and fanciness of the table in the sun room.

The blue and white porcelain in the Bel Air home is just gorgeous (as are the peonies)! I love the repurposed vase lamp, but it is the moon flask vases which are particularly special.

I’m cheating a little here and sourcing from my own house…

Michael Smith also has (or had) a house in Santa Monica. I wish I knew the date on this photo spread but I didn’t mark it down when I tore it out. I do know it is quite early and I imagine he no longer lives here. For me, this represents California casual decorating at its best. The plain silvered byobu (screen) behind the sofa reminded me of this lovely plain screen I saw at an antique show last month.

Rather than focussing on the gilt and wood cabinet in the hallway of a London project, I thought the unusual placement of a wood and inlay hibachi (charcoal brazier) as an accent piece on the floor was ingenious. This is an easy piece to match. Found at shrine sales and antique stores, it simply is a matter of picking size and design. I saw an inlaid hibachi with hydrangea once and passed it up. Now I am waiting to find another.

The amazing lacquer trunk under the table in this next photo challenged me and I couldn’t find an exact match nor could I stay local. Instead, I have gone to the Naga Antiques site and pulled up this lacquer samurai armor chest. Note the blue and white vase lamp here too.

One of his most beautiful projects is this Malibu home featured in the October 2009 Elle Decor. I find it to be less English country house and the most “Saladino” like of his recent projects. The bedroom has such perfect proportions and symmetry, with its John Robshaw bed and gorgeous inlaid small tansu on stands used as the night tables. Blue and white lamps too!

I couldn’t find any lacquer ones right now, but these small chests on stands are not hard to come by.

I used the kitchen in this house in one of my earliest posts and I keep coming back to the perfection of this room. The sleekness of the modern streamlined kitchen combined with the rustic mizuya tansu (kitchen cupboard) and those amazing pre-WWII light fixtures hanging from the wooden ceiling beams. I found a second view too, highlighting the gorgeous metal stove hood and a small collection of bamboo baskets on the upper shelves. This tansu here looks to be late 18th century, while most readily available today are late 19th century, like the one sourced below. The light fixtures in the photo are fabric stretched over a metal frame. I have sourced some milk glass ones from the same period with metal detailing on the outside.

Michael Smith’s interiors are unusual in that he weaves in Japanese antiques in almost ever project he does – rare in the decorating world we see published in the glossy magazines. Testament to his greatness is the way they fit seamlessly into the eclectic melange he conjures.

Image credits: 1 & 3. Elle Decor April 2010, photo credit: Simon Upton, 2, 4, 12, 16-17 and 21. Kanarusha Antiques, 5-6 and 8. Elle Decor, photo credit: Simon Upton, 7. Edo Arts, 9 and 20. Okura Oriental Art, 10. me, 11. Metroplitan Home?, date unknown, 12. Michael S. Smith, 13. Not sure of attribution here, please let me know, 14. Naga Antiques, 15 and 19. Elle Decor October 2009, photo credit: Simon Upton, 18. via Chinoiserie Chic.

Dec 5, 2010 By tokyojinja in Design Motif, Furniture, Interior Design, Lacquer, Lighting, Porcelain and Pottery Tags: interior design, japanese antiques, michael smith

An Artistic Reflection…The 1860 Japanese Envoy to America and Yokohama-e

Shosha Amerikajin True Picture of Americans 1861 — Shosha Amerikajin (True Picture of Americans), c. 1861

Last week, The New York Times ran an article on the first visit by Japanese envoys to America in 1860. The article is part of a larger historical series on the Civil War, but what I found so interesting were the artistic renderings of their trip by the visitors and the gifts they brought with them to present to the President. This first diplomatic mission was led by three Japanese officials and completed by a retinue of 77 others (including 6 cooks). For President Buchanan, on the cusp of political crisis, the visit was a popular and welcome diversion and the visitors took the country by storm. Newspapers and the paparazzi of the day recorded every move, while the Japanese themselves also recorded their impressions and images of America.

Samurai in New York — Delegates and NY Lady, Stereoscope view, hand-colored, Studio of C.D. Fredricks & Co. Collection of Tom Burnett

The impressions of the Japanese were filtered through the lens of their experience. Drawn by a member of the Japanese delegation, one would think that this sketch of Washington D.C. was some pleasure garden or village back in Japan. Closer viewing reveals the Capitol, the base of the Washington Monument and the bridge across the Potomac to Virginia.

sketch of Washington DC 1860 by Japanese Envoy — sketch of Washington D.C., 1860

Repairs to the ship meant to carry them back to Japan were delayed and as a result, the delegation was treated to quite a tour, including a balloon ascension in Philadelphia. Clearly, it impressed them and they recorded it in great detail as shown in this woodblock print circa 1865.

The envoys brought many gifts from the Emperor of Japan as well. Most interesting to me is the lacquer chigai-dana (staggered shelf cabinet) that can be seen in the far right corner of the etching below (from an 1860 newspaper). It shows President Buchanan and his niece unwrapping all the gifts they received from the delegates.

The white house inventory shows this chigai-dana, which actually turns out to be a different one, gifted earlier to President Franklin Pierce by Commodore Perry when he returned from his fateful voyage in 1855.

Currently, it resides in the sitting room adjoining the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House. You can just see it in the left corner of this photo. It is believed that the 1860 chigai-dana is stored in the Smithsonian somewhere…

This small early 19th century lacquered and gilded shelf cabinet is currently for sale at Naga Antiques in New York.

And I recently saw a simple two shelf version heavily decorated with maki-e (sprinkled gilding) and fans at the Oedo Market at Tokyo International Forum.

Back in Japan, foreign traders were now allowed under the “Treaty of Friendship and Commerce”. They set up in the port city of Yokohama and were limited to a 25 mile radius. The foreigners were fascinating to the local population and a new form of ukiyo-e, called Yokohama-e, emerged. It depicted these strange new people and their dress, their weapons, their customs and so on. Earlier works, such as this 1855 print, were based on much speculation and little real information, and as such, the rendering of the faces and dress is clearly not that accurate.

Tagawa Hiromichi Appearance of Foreign Barbarians England — Tagawa Hiromichi, Appearance of Foreign Barbarians "England"

This print, from “A Series of the European Countries,” was made only 6 years later and also depicts an Englishman, but in this case both faces and dress reflect a fairly accurate view.

Utagawa Yoshikazu Englishman with A Dog 1861 — Utagawa Yoshikazu, Englishman with A Dog

While rarer and more expensive than ordinary ukiyo-e, these Yokohama prints can still be found in markets, antique stores and on-line. I saw this print on Sunday at the Tomioka Hachiman shrine sale. If you click to enlarge it you can see more easily the mixture of people and activities, including the American/European couple in red at the bottom towards the right. The combination of Western and Japanese style buildings next to each other is great too. Unfortunately I do not know the name of the print or the artist.

Back in my hometown of New York, the exhibition “Samurai in New York: The First Japanese Delegation 1860” has just closed at the Museum of the City of New York. It was one of a number of “Heritage of Friendship” events planned this year to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1860 visit. Currently running at the Yokosuka City Museum (in Japanese) is the sister exhibit “Japan and America in 19th Century-Technical Revolution and Diplomacy” . If you would like to read more in-depth information I recommend reading Guests of the Nation:The Japanese Delegation to the Buchanan White House by Dallas Finn on the White House Historical Association website. The Library of Congress also has an amazing collection on this topic. Other resources inlcude Ann Yonemura’s book Yokohama:Japanese Woodblock Prints from the 19th Century.

A Quick Addendum:
A few days after this post I stumbled across this ballon ascension print from the same series as the one shown above. It is missing its third panel, but is clearly by the same artist, Yoshitora Utagawa. Such a rare image in ukiyo-e! And you gotta love the inaccurate rendering of the U.S. Flag! This one is currently for sale at Okura Antiques.

Image credits: 1, 3 & 4. Library of Congress collection via The New York Times, 3. via The Museum of the City of New York , 5-7. The White House Historical Association, 8. Naga Antiques, 9. me, 10. Library of Congress Exhibits. 11. Hotei Japanese Prints, 12. me.

Nov 15, 2010 By tokyojinja in Artist Spotlight, History, Lacquer Tags: japanese prints, ukiyo-e, wood block prints, Yokohama-e

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

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