I owe Rosina Buckland a vote of thanks. Without her I would never have come across Katei Taki and wouldn’t be sharing these wonderful pictures with you now. They date from the end of the nineteenth century and show the influence of Chinese art on Japanese artists of the time. Continue reading
The Ashmolean Museum’s exhibition of Meiji textiles, Threads of Silk and Gold, opened last week and I expect you’re wondering whether you need to go all the way to Oxford (an hour on the train! From Paddington!) to see it or if you can get by with just reading the reviews and looking at photos. The answer is, you absolutely have to go. I’ll tell you why. Continue reading
Many years ago I used to go to Christie’s South Ken to buy ukiyo-e prints. In those days it was in a rabbit-warren of a building somewhere near the Gloucester Road with room after room piled high with dusty furniture and china. Down in the basement you could ferret about among the prints to find that special treasure going cheap, while the dealers eyed you suspiciously. It’s not like that now. Continue reading
I spent a fascinating morning in the Japanese Galleries at the British Museum today on a tour led by Yannick Pucci, one of the team of volunteer guides who take you round the galleries and help you understand what you’re seeing. The tour only lasts half an hour so we just looked at a small selection of the exhibits but I found it all highly illuminating. When the tour finished I asked Yannick to pick out his favorite objects for me. Here they are, along with a couple of my favorites as well. Continue reading
