glass bottles

Kawagoe Shrine Sale Never Disappoints

Thursday was the 28th of the month which means that it is time for the Kawagoe shrine sale. We have had a lot of rainy 28ths lately, so it was lovely to wake to a warm sunshiny day. I went with every intention of not buying anything (ha!), which of course proved to be an impossible task. The market felt a bit quieter than usual, but there were plenty of Tokyo folks there.

The theme of the day was clearly baskets…

I was dying for these amazing huge winnower baskets, imaging them hung on a wall in the den of a country house. I know I’ve seen a recent photo of a similar basket display, but can’t remember where. When I do, I’ll add it in here.

Addendum: I didn’t find the photo I was thinking of, but I did find this one with a symmetrical display of Vietnamese fishing hats…

and this one from The Bootstrap Project (more on that in a later post) of handmade Zambian baskets displayed asymetrically.

These baskets would be perfect in a bathroom with one closed holding extra toilet paper and the other open with extra towels.

I didn’t buy any baskets, having just found this one last week. It is just perfect for holding magazines.

But there were some things I couldn’t resist…

I have a weakness for Japanese bellflowers, so this katagami stencil came home with me.

A couple of Tokyo friends got lucky and bought big Japanese fishing floats from this dealer. I got a bunch of small rolling pin or roller floats, all slightly different in shape and size, but roughly around five inches long. I figure I can’t get my big floats back to the US anytime soon, but a handful of these in a basket in the bathroom might do!

Speaking of the bathroom, I thought this kashigata looked like a sand dollar and a starfish and would be perfect to display alongside the bowls of the real things collected by the girls.

Gorgeous shape and color, but it was the glass screw top that sold me!

Is it a stool or a table? Either! This was my favorite find of the day.

Remember this post from a couple of days ago? Patina over perfection…antiques with flaws can be very affordable. I didn’t need this big Seto pot, but it was a lovely one, fishbowl style with a finished and glazed interior. At first glance a 30,000yen (about $300) piece…

…at second glance, this repair brought the price down to 10% of that. For 3000yen ($30) it came home with me.

Friends scored big time too. The sake jug on the left came home with M, as her birthday present. I was so happy to find it after another friend got the one on the right last October.

M got this amazing roof tile cap from Nagano too.

And these 3 smaller inban hibachi (transfer printed charcoal brazier), probably from tobacco sets.

Another friend bought these gorgeous late-Edo period covered bowls. I want to research the unusual painted pattern as I know I have seen it in a museum collection somewhere. Just so modern!

We finished with our usual post-antiquing repast. Indian food! Their keema curry is super-delish!

Apr 30, 2011 By tokyojinja in Glass, Porcelain and Pottery, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets Tags: baskets, flea market, glass bottles, japanese antiques, Japanese glass floats, kashigata, katagami, porcelain, Seto, shrine sale

Everyone Loves Japanese Glass Fishing Floats…A Follow Up

Move over Tom Scheerer and Steven Gambrel, Tokyo Jinja readers are collecting glass floats and displaying them in their homes. I’ve given up on getting mine back to the US right now so I have combined it with my ever-growing collection of Japanese glass bottles.

One Tokyo reader got lucky at the Oedo Antique Market just a week or so ago. She scored a medium size float with its original net and a handful of small ones. I just love the way she displays them on the shelves, with her books organized by color – it makes for such a soothing composition.

The husband of a reader in Singapore knew how obsessed his wife was with floats that for Christmas he bought her a group from a dealer in Alaska. Simultaneously, a friend gave her a bowl from Core Bamboo. She’s combined the two and displays them on a woven Laotian textile in her living room.

Blue & White’s Amy Katoh displays her floats in a senbei (rice cracker) canister on her window overlooking the Sumida River.

And for the most unusual placement, this float joins sea glass on the bathroom wall at Amy’s Tokiwa house.

Elsewhere in the internet, Brooke Giannetti of Velvet & Linen has just posted photos of the Gilt Home Showhouse room she and her husband designed in support of the Demi and Ashton Kutcher Foundation, which raises money to combat human trafficking. Using paintings by her husband Steve and items from her shop Giannetti Home, they created an artist’s studio.

She used a grouping of floats in a covered glass apothecary-style jar, as one of the main decorative items on the coffee table.

Along with the paintings, they really make the blue and aqua tones in the room sing!

For my earlier posts on glass fishing floats please take a look at:

Photo credits: 1. me, 2. A. Ridge, 3. A. Wilhoit, 4 & 5. Amy Katoh, 6 & 7. Brooke Giannetti

Feb 13, 2011 By tokyojinja in Glass Tags: glass bottles, Japanese glass floats

Send Me to Rehab…I Have a Glass Bottle Addiction

I couldn’t resist this beauty at Tomioka Hachimangu today. Yes, it is looking like I might need some intervention…

Nov 14, 2010 By tokyojinja in Glass, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets Tags: flea market, glass bottles, shrine sale, Tomioka Hachimangu

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 Tags: flea market, glass bottles, imari, japanese antiques, lacquer, Olya Thompson, porcelain, Schuyler Samperton, shrine sale

Buoys, Bottles and Bargains…the Rainy Day Special at Kawagoe

There is nothing like the indecision of a rainy shrine sale day. Will the vendors be there? Is it worth going? This past Thursday was no exception. The eagerly awaited Kawagoe market falls on the 28th of each month and I skipped it last month as it was pouring out (and later heard that no one was there). We had planned to go this month, no matter what. But as we readied ourselves to leave, it began to rain. Nonetheless, after stalling over yummy breakfast, we set out on the 1 hour drive.

Well, they say “good things come in small packages”. I wish there was a similar adage for “great bargains come from rainy day shrine sales”. There were only about 20% of the vendors present, everything was covered in plastic tarps with only a few brave customers wandering around – mostly foreigners (the only ones foolish enough to be there). We jumped in and had the best day! Let me show you what I found…

First, this huge turquoise bottle originally used to hold alcohol of some kind. The dealer offered me his “rainy day special price” and I couldn’t resist.

I have long adored the interiors designed by Tom Scheerer, the king of the giant glass bottle. If you page through his portfolio or back issues of shelter magazines, there is not a single project that doesn’t include a gorgeous glass bottle in some way.

Often, the bottles have been converted into lamps.

I was so excited about my bottle, that I was unprepared for what I found next. I had long admired these Japanese fishing floats in magazines, but never seen one for sale in Japan. I got the large aquamarine one to go with my giant bottle. It has its original net and is in great condition. I had thought they were asking a bit too much for it, but luckily the dealer who sold me the giant bottle came over and got involved. He convinced them to give me a rainy day special price too!

Japanese glass fishing floats have been used by fishermen here for most of the last century. Floats continue to be in use today, but many have broken off from their nets and surf the Pacific Ocean, sometimes for decades. The floats follow the ocean currents and tend to wash up on shore in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and islands throughout the region, especially after storms. There are devoted beachcombers who go out and hunt for these treasures, sometimes even flying to a remote area. Take a look at Glass Float Junkie’s blog for more history, information and great photos.

Modern day collectors love them for their decorative possibilities. Thom Filicia hangs three as an accent in a lake house.

Jeffrey Bilhuber has used two as pendants in his adorable Rose Cottage on Nantucket Island. They are like jewelry in the room!

Tom Scheerer has even managed to inspire one into a lamp.

The popular market place has picked up on the trend as well. Pottery Barn had a Japanese float lamp, which is no longer available, but can be found on eBay…

and currently has the giant bottles.

Japanese glass floats have inspired artists as well. Dale Chihuly, the world-renowned glass artist has a series called Niijima Floats. Around 1990 he visited a glass school on the island and it reminded him of “the Japanese fishing floats, which [he] used to collect on the beach when [he] was a kid in Washington State on the Pacific Ocean.” Chihuly’s floats can be giant – up to 40 inches in diameter – and brightly colored, but I found these sheer blue ones particularly beautiful.

I haven’t had a chance yet to clean mine up and look for markings. More details to follow, including where I plan on using my finds, but as many of you know, I am renovating a bathroom at my NJ beach house (hint, hint). Other bloggers have written about these floats and I recommend posts at Completely Coastal and Things that Inspire.

I am going to leave you with this most beautiful image. Maybelline Te of Frou La La took this photo of the loggia at a friend’s house in the Philippines just resplendent with hanging floats.

Wow!

Image credits: 1 & 4. me, 2, 3 & 7. Tom Scheerer, 2. photo credit: Pieter Estersohn, 3 & 7. photo credit: Simon Upton, 5. Thom Filicia, 6. Jeffrey Bihuber in Architectural Digest, September 2003, photo credit: Peter Vanderwarker, 8 & 9. Pottery Barn, 10. Dale Chihuly, 11. Maybelline Te

Oct 31, 2010 By tokyojinja in Glass, Interior Design, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets Tags: Dale Chihuly, flea market, glass bottles, japanese antiques, Japanese glass floats, Jeffrey Bilhuber, Niijima Floats, Thom Filicia, Tom Scheerer

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