Shopping karma strikes again
Sep. 7th, 2008 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdymonkeyI wasn't going to go. I figured I'd spent enough this month, what with the taiko drum building workshop and that chance find of Jodai-Gire at Moe's.
Only it was beautiful this morning after several unseasonably hot days. I needed the exercise. So I slathered sunscreen, dug out a hat and a tote bag and headed down to Antiques By The Bay out at Alameda Point - just to walk around, see?
First eye-catcher of the morning, a rack of vintage garments with a sign marked "All items $20." Eyed up a man's silk vest, but it looked too small for me. Noticed a man's juban with a shi-shi motif on it. Some stains, not awful. I made the decision to leave it on the rack. If it was there on my way out, maybe.
Saw a beautiful Steiff monkey, stopped briefly to admire and kept walking. I watch enough Roadshow to know how expensive he was likely to be.
There were the book people. I stopped to browse, noticing an interesting sprinkling of lacquer bowls and Japanese dolls out among the books. I turned my head. There was a tea bowl with a crane scratched into the rough brown glaze, tea whisk in its own wooden tube to protect the delicate bristles, bamboo tea scoop and caddy on a lacquer tray. I inquired as to the price. $50. I sucked in my breath - not that it didn't seem worth it, but it was $50. "It's the whole set," she said, pointing out two blue and white porcelain jars and a wooden box behind the tray. One jar had an immaculate white napkin coiled inside, the other a tiny bamboo lid (I honestly do not know what this one is for). I bit. It was completely worth it. The dealer told me the tea things and other dolls and objects belonged to an elderly friend who has decided it's time to unclutter her home.
Wrapped, packed and paid for, I continued up the airstrip. I didn't even bother looking at the one dealer who specializes in Japanese antiques. Three times I've gone in there and asked about items only to be ignored.
I stopped at the lady who usually has a couple of fans, or lacquer pieces and lots of vintage jewelry. There was a beautiful, but battered old lacquer box sitting on one shelf. Dark red lacquer with birds and branches, plus three crests in gold leaf. Sold for $10.
I'd only covered about a third of the market at this point, but I'd had two really good finds and my bag was getting heavy. I headed back down the center aisle, cut right and ambled casually back toward the vintage clothing lady. From a distance I saw a woman trying on the shishi juban. I slowed my pace and thought, "If she buys it, it was never meant to be mine. No big deal." She took it off, put it back on the rack and walked away. So I bought it. Being an undergarment, there are a few stains and condition problems. I can live with that as I'm probably going to take it apart and make something else with the fabric. (EDIT: Further inspection in an environment where I could actually lay it out reveals significant wear spots along the shoulder fold and another in back a few inches above the bottom hem. It may be reincarnated as a dress or something....)
Behold the haul:
Only it was beautiful this morning after several unseasonably hot days. I needed the exercise. So I slathered sunscreen, dug out a hat and a tote bag and headed down to Antiques By The Bay out at Alameda Point - just to walk around, see?
First eye-catcher of the morning, a rack of vintage garments with a sign marked "All items $20." Eyed up a man's silk vest, but it looked too small for me. Noticed a man's juban with a shi-shi motif on it. Some stains, not awful. I made the decision to leave it on the rack. If it was there on my way out, maybe.
Saw a beautiful Steiff monkey, stopped briefly to admire and kept walking. I watch enough Roadshow to know how expensive he was likely to be.
There were the book people. I stopped to browse, noticing an interesting sprinkling of lacquer bowls and Japanese dolls out among the books. I turned my head. There was a tea bowl with a crane scratched into the rough brown glaze, tea whisk in its own wooden tube to protect the delicate bristles, bamboo tea scoop and caddy on a lacquer tray. I inquired as to the price. $50. I sucked in my breath - not that it didn't seem worth it, but it was $50. "It's the whole set," she said, pointing out two blue and white porcelain jars and a wooden box behind the tray. One jar had an immaculate white napkin coiled inside, the other a tiny bamboo lid (I honestly do not know what this one is for). I bit. It was completely worth it. The dealer told me the tea things and other dolls and objects belonged to an elderly friend who has decided it's time to unclutter her home.
Wrapped, packed and paid for, I continued up the airstrip. I didn't even bother looking at the one dealer who specializes in Japanese antiques. Three times I've gone in there and asked about items only to be ignored.
I stopped at the lady who usually has a couple of fans, or lacquer pieces and lots of vintage jewelry. There was a beautiful, but battered old lacquer box sitting on one shelf. Dark red lacquer with birds and branches, plus three crests in gold leaf. Sold for $10.
I'd only covered about a third of the market at this point, but I'd had two really good finds and my bag was getting heavy. I headed back down the center aisle, cut right and ambled casually back toward the vintage clothing lady. From a distance I saw a woman trying on the shishi juban. I slowed my pace and thought, "If she buys it, it was never meant to be mine. No big deal." She took it off, put it back on the rack and walked away. So I bought it. Being an undergarment, there are a few stains and condition problems. I can live with that as I'm probably going to take it apart and make something else with the fabric. (EDIT: Further inspection in an environment where I could actually lay it out reveals significant wear spots along the shoulder fold and another in back a few inches above the bottom hem. It may be reincarnated as a dress or something....)
Behold the haul:
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-08 02:11 am (UTC)Oooh, Asakichi is where my sensei goes on her trips up north. A++ store. :)
If you like, I'll do my best to find instructions on basic chabako. As it's not considered one of the 'advanced' procedures, it is allowed to be printed in books, etc. I could scan and email them your way at some point if I find any? I know of at least one series of books in print for the Urasenke school style from starter to beginning intermediate, though I don't own any of them, if you ever felt like going to a Japanese bookstore. There are something like 20 volumes total.
(I do have English books showing the basic tea procedures for beginners, also, if you're interested.)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-08 03:57 am (UTC)I have Okakura Kakuzo's The Book of Tea (another flea market find from earlier this summer), though that's more an overview of the aesthetic rather than a how-to. A cursory glance at eBay showed what may be were several volumes of that Urasenke series. (I was trying to get an idea what sort of future investment mizuzashi and furo are going to represent!) I put a shout-out over on the Tousando board for recommendations of English language titles. If you can furnish titles/author names, I don't mind hunting them down myself. The library system here is pretty good.
Thank you for the offer of assistance.