Amid the racks of kimono, most priced at $10, are several rare items like this yogi:
This is also a great place to find affordable tansu.
Sorry, blurry pic... I had my eye on this one because of its massive size. I could probably fit all of my kimono stuff in it! This one was around $3100, and I saw another nice one that was only $1400.
There was a huge stack of kimono design sheets that would look lovely as framed art. There were also bins full of obi weaving samples.
This bolt of fabric was sooo gorgeous, but I couldn't figure out what it was. At first I thought maybe an obi bolt, but it is so soft. The entire thing is very fine embroidery.
Racks of kimono. Unfortunately I did not find any kimono this time that suited me.
There were a few giant banners. These are banners that get flown on Kodomo no Hi. They striked my interest as I visited the sale the day before Kodomo no Hi!
A mikoshi shrine! This is something I never thought I would find for sale! Another strange item I saw was a giant wooden statue of a Japanese demon, as tall as the ceiling, but I was unable to get a picture of it as it was hidden behind boxes.
Here is what I got from the Kyoto Art & Antique sale:
Very shiny gold foil zouri embossed with rangiku. They look like solid gold, they are so shiny!
I have to agree with you, Kyoto Art & Antiques is a real FIND. My husband and I moved from San Jose to Seattle in 2003. In 2004 we went to their sale the first time, just to see what they had (this was in the old location in SODO). The next sale we bought a wonderful kiri wood, 1920's kimono tansu. For $700! Very reasonable, 3 section tansu, exactly what I needed for my burgeoning collection.
ReplyDeleteSince then I have gone several times—especially in the last two years—and purchased many haori and several hanten for my collection. I've drooled over some of the real collector pieces they've had, but instead buy the $10 to $75 pieces, which are in my budget and still really cool. And they are such nice people too. :)