If you happen to be in Tokyo between April 3d and April 5th and have some spare time, you should check out Art Fair Tokyo 2009.  Most of the exhibits are more focused on contemporary art, but there are four booths that I think you should visit that are antique based.  I will quickly list the vendors of interest and briefly describe what you will see.

Shouun Oriental Art: Booth D11.  Artworks from the Jomon to Edo era.  This should be super cool.

Mita Arts Gallery: Booth E06.  Woodblock prints from the Edo to Meiji era.

Gallery Kono: Booth D01.  Early Imari and Kakiemon Porcelain as well as examples of Maki-e lacquer.

Tannaka: Booth D13.  Pottery from the Kamakura and Muromachi eras; Tamba-yaki, Tokoname-yaki, Shigaraki-yaki.  As well as Noh artifacts; costumes, masks, and instruments.

There might be other exhibitors showing antiques, but these were the ones I found as I went through the exhibitor list which is extensive.  Many have links to their home pages, so feel free to peruse them to see if anything else piques your interest (click here).  You’ve got 2 weeks to book your flight, so check your calender, it looks like a huge exhibit not to be missed.

Hisashiburi ne! It’s been a while hasn’t it. Got a job as a cabinetmaker again, I guess I just can’t keep away from wood. But, it’s been keeping me away from this site, so it’s time to rectify that.

I couldn’t help but show you this kyodai that’s up for auction, since I previously posted an earlier style here with a more complete description. As you can see, this piece has the later square western style mirror as well as the highly figured wood. These began to be used in kyodai pieces after Sakoku, Japan’s exclusionary acts, were forcibly lifted in 1853 by Commodore Perry’s gunboat diplomacy. The listing states that this is made with keyaki (elm), but I think it looks more like kuwa (mulberry). Also, listed as 19th century, but it could be as late as early 20th. Handles look like they have been replaced with more modern hardware. Cool, none the less.

If I had a zashiki or dei (main entertaining tatami room), this is one piece I would definitely want to put in it. An amazing Sendai tansu with beautiful hardware. This was definitely a showpiece for an affluent merchant to display while he was entertaining guests.

Although I believe this to actually represent the fourth stage of Sendai evolution (late Meiji or early Taisho) due to the fact that is a stacking piece, the floriate button on the lockplate is non existant, meaning that it has a double action lock (urajo), it has mokko style handles which replaced the earlier warabite style, and the lockplates are also embossed and incised with beatiful depictions of what I think are shishi (lion-dogs of protection).

Exhibiting a nice Kijiro laquer finish over a nice reddish stain on the Keyaki wood, this piece definitely presents an impressive display of craftsmanship.

Another nice thing I would like to point out is the corner hardware (which I believe is called herikanagu). Nicely incised, this also points out how with the introduction of sheet metal at the end of the Meiji era, the craftsmen were able to spend more time on the decoration instead of just on fabrication of hardware, therefore adding to the aesthetic qualities of the pieces. And hey, if I was a wealthy merchant that had to hide my wealth due to the Edo era edicts, once the Meiji restoration hit, I would have jumped on all this ornamentation as well.

First off, sorry for the lack of posts this week, work and holidays often get in the way of my true interests, and I think most of my American readers were tied up similarly. So, on with the show.

Exhibited here is your typical Naga-Hibachi. Most Americans confuse the small metal barbecues that you can find in supermarkets (near the charcoal) which are actually called Shichiren with Hibachi. Apparently the confusion came about when shichiren were being introduced to the west, and the true name seemed to be too hard for us to pronounce. So, as with most things foreign, we decided to use an easier word to suit our needs, and hibachi must have rolled off the tongue easier. Even better, we also misuse the word hibachi to describe a flat iron grill which is actually called a teppan. You might be familiar with this cooking apparatus if you’ve eaten at Benihana’s. I could keep this train going, but I’ve gotten a little off topic.

A true hibachi is a wooden box that has a copper liner into which you place charcoal. Older versions were called hibitsu (fire coffer) and basically consisted of a hewn block of wood with clay lining the inside for fireproofing. While later versions (after the boxes) were sometimes round and made out of porcelain (round wooden versions were also popular). A hibachi is primarily used for a heat source to keep water hot for tea as well as providing the only heat source, outside of the kitchen, in a traditional home. You could use it to light your kiseru (pipe), or insert incense sticks for aroma. As tea was customarily served to guests, you usually hung out around the hibachi. The addition of drawers were used to hold items like tongs, your tobacco pouch, or tools for tea preparation.

Naga-hibachi represents the Kanto (basically Edo or Tokyo) regional version of the firebox. They usually had drawers down one side or along the bottom, or both as seen in the picture above. Any useable surface space was adjacent to the firebox and sometimes had a lid to cover storage compartements. Drawer handles were typically warabite (fern hand) with the wood being Keyaki (Japanese Elm). The joinery was typically hanken-shiki (finger joint), but hibachi were also one of the only types of household furnishings that could also have dovetail joints. The piece above states that it has dovetails, but I couldn’t see them in the pictures. For more info on this piece click here or on the picture. When I come accross the other styles, I will of course post about them.

I thought I would stay on the topic of large protuberances started in the last post, and I do mean large. Here are two more examples of extreme olfactory organs, this time in the form of Baku, nightmare-eating chimera with an elephant’s trunk, rhinoceros eyes, an ox tail, and tiger’s paws. Purported with the ability to protect against evil and pestilence, it made sense that these were included in classical Shinto and Buddhist temple architecture; what better way to keep away crop ravaging insect invasions and village pillaging Ronin, than by praying at a temple protected by these deities. The first example is huge, making me wonder what temple this came from and why it was dismantled. Measuring approximately 5′ 3″ (l) x 1′ 1-3/4″ (w) x 1′ 9-5/8″ (h), this thing is almost as big as I am. If you click the image you can see in other images the pinned kone hozo (haunch tenon) joint used to hold this sucker up. Knowing a little about Japanese joinery I would have thought this to be held up with a more elaborate system due to it’s size, but I guess if it’s ornamental and not structural, all you need to do is hold up it’s own weight. Plus it looks as if it was locked in on top somewhat by some form of beam, so that would take some strain off. The second piece is large as well, though not as extreme, measuring in at 2′ 5-1/2″ (l) x 1′ 2-5/8″ (w) x 1″ 6-7/8″ (h), with a more readily identifiable elephant shnozz. Due to the manner in which these Baku are depicted you can place their age anywhere from the Kamakura era to the early Edo era, upwards of 400 years or more. Needless to say, I think the first guy is cute and wish he could come and stay at my house.