Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair 2014

They do such a wonderful job setting up the LAPADA fair in Berkeley Square every year – making it so beautiful and inviting!

There was one stand at the LAPADA fair that I just had to stop at because of its pure beauty of colours and design:

Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA fair

I had reached the Japanese Gallery; traders since 1977, who bring us a wide selection of genuine Japanese art and artefacts, and showcase items like ceramics, Katana (traditionally made Japanese sword) and Ukiyo-e, that we are looking closer at below.

Exquisite porcelain cups and saucers from Japanese Gallery

The Japanese word for describing porcelain and pottery is Yaki.  The history of porcelain-making in Japan is quite a brutal one, as a Japanese army invaded Korea in 1598, in the very beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868).  They kidnapped a few families that had learnt the art of pottery making from the Chinese, brought them back to Japan and set up their own porcelain production.  The continental influences remained in the art, even after Japanese artisans took to porcelain making and applied their artistic license many years later.

The famous tea ceremony culture gained ground in the late 16th century in Japan, which increased the porcelain production further.  Another increase in the demand of these exquisite pieces came with the baroque époque in Europe in the 17th century, when many people became wealthy and demanded oriental and unusual things.  (1)

This is a just a small extract of this fascinating history, and you can dig deeper into Japanese history on the Japanese Gallery website.

Satsuma maple design plate 1868-1912 from the Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA fair

Japanese Gallery art at the LAPADA fair

Ukiyo-e means “pictures of the floating world” and the world referred to in the name was one free from worries and concerns of life.  (1) and is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that were popular in Japan from the 17th until the 19th century.  The artists would often paint beautiful women, sumo wrestlers, historic, landscape and travel scenes, as well as flora and fauna (2).

Japanese Kimono and Obi, Japanese Gallery at the LAPADA fair

There was also a lovely lady dressed in a traditional kimono among all these beautiful treasures.  I will be writing a blog post about vintage kimonos soon, so I was absolutely delighted to get a few photos of her!

 

Japanese Gallery

66D Kensington Church Street

London

W8 4BY

 

Sources:

(1) Japanese Gallery

(2) Wikipedia

An Exhibition of “Okimono” Japanese Art

Art Antiques London Fair 2013

I have waited to publish this post to get all the incredibly interesting information right, so thank you for waiting patiently.  At the Art Antiques London Fair earlier this summer I simply had to stop by Laura Bordignon’s stall, as the most exquisite Japanese statutes were proudly looking down upon me from their pillars.  

From the collection of Laura Bordignon at the Art Antiques London Fair 2013

The collector, Laura Bordignon, started her career in antiques in 1991 and began to specialise in Japanese art, particularly metalwork and ivory okimono carvings from the Meiji period, of which she has developed a significant knowledge.  With this particular knowledge she has been consulted by an international clientele, advising collectors on how to expand their existing collections as well as starting new ones.

Laura Bordignon, Art Antiques London Fair 2013

With the arrow in focus we are able to see the exquisite work of the artist

Laura exhibits her collection at the major London antique fairs and her detailed knowledge allowed her recently to write the book titled “The Golden Age of Japanese Okimono”.  Very little has been published on the subject so the book introduces readers to the most comprehensive study of Japanese Okimono artists active during the Meiji Period, which lasted from 1868 until 1912.

From the collection of Laura Bordignon, Art Antiques Fair London 2013

Laura Bordignon, Art Antiques Fair London 2013

From Laura’s website we can learn a few things about Okimono, for example that the word Oki-Mono in Japanese literally means ‘an object of display’.  Highly skilled carvers and metalworkers produced fine objects and they portrayed Japanese life using scenes with children, Samurai, peasants, fishermen, street entertainers, animals etc.  Western collectors were the main market, as the objects allowed them to get a sneak peek into the mystical Eastern way of life.

You can see Laura’s stunning collection at the Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia on 4-10 November and at The BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair on 19-25 March 2014.