tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6991434286485375.post7714163031236962333..comments2023-12-26T20:44:36.437-08:00Comments on SPECIAL GALLERIES ..... DARUMA MUSEUM (03): UnkeiGabi Grevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6991434286485375.post-54473855967173949342016-07-14T19:00:51.058-07:002016-07-14T19:00:51.058-07:00Ganjoojuin 願成就院 Ganjoju- In, Shizuoka
静岡県伊豆の国市寺家8...Ganjoojuin 願成就院 <b>Ganjoju- In, Shizuoka </b><br />静岡県伊豆の国市寺家83-1 / Jike 83-1, Izunokuni<br />Famous for its statues carved by<br />運慶 Unkei <br />.<br />http://gokurakuparadies.blogspot.jp/2016/07/ganjoju-in-shizuoka.html<br />.Gabi Grevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6991434286485375.post-83005057236106903752008-03-21T15:11:00.000-07:002008-03-21T15:11:00.000-07:00By cjbo...washington.eduhttp://groups.google.com/g...By cjbo...washington.edu<BR/>http://groups.google.com/group/pmjs/browse_thread/thread/37ac3ad9d54f2420/dcbd2bb10e7d821a?hl=en#dcbd2bb10e7d821a<BR/><BR/> The complicated scenario within which it was assessed in Japan, left Japan and entered the market, the sale price, and the fact that it will return to Japan via this circuitous route of private ownership and sale have generated a lot of discussion in the Japanese press. In short: <BR/>The statue was in a private collection. <BR/>It was loaned to the Tokyo National Museum for x-ray and futher study. <BR/>Based on items found inside and its style, it is attributed to Unkei. The Japanese govt. / Bunkacho could not/ would not purchase it citing lack of funds to meet the sellers price (which was presumably based in part on the information that the Bunkacho / museum experts provided!) <BR/>Because the work was not designated as a juyôbunkazai (among other reasons) it was able to leave Japan for auction. <BR/><BR/>Christies' estimate was 1.5 -2 million US$. Mitsubishi Co won it for $14.3 million when the hammer dropped, supposedly for another buyer (although Mitsubishi <BR/>has an art collection of their own). <BR/><BR/>*** <BR/><BR/>The Bunkacho estimated the statue's value at 300-400 million yen in July 2006. The counteroffer of the seller was 800 million. It could not be purchased at that price. <BR/><BR/>http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/world/news/20080320-OYT1T00159.htm (in <BR/>Japanese) <BR/><BR/>Christie's estimate was $1.5 to 2 million, half of the evaluation. <BR/>It sold for over 14 million dollars (1.4 billion yen) <BR/><BR/>The Yomiuri reported in English that Mitsukoshi participated in the auction for a Japanese customer whose name is unavailable. The article mentions that the Bunkacho decided not to bid after it was told that a "private museum with a large budget" would bid. <BR/>http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20080320TDY03305.htm <BR/><BR/><BR/>"Despite an appraisal from the Tokyo National Museum that the statute is highly likely a work of Unkei, it has not been designated as a national treasure or an important cultural asset in Japan, like another 12 of Unkei's works have been." <BR/>http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080319p2a00m0na004000c.html <BR/><BR/><BR/>Why not? <BR/><BR/>"The owner did not agree to its designation [as a cultural asset in Japan]." <BR/>http://mainichi.jp/select/today/news/20080220k0000e040024000c.html (in Japanese) <BR/>http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/books/art/122128/ (in Japanese) <BR/><BR/><BR/>As the Yomiuri article in English also states: "The privately owned <BR/>sculpture was put on auction because it has not been designated as an important cultural asset by the government, a status that would oblige the owner to inform the government of any plan for a sale." <BR/>I suppose it should state, "it COULD be put on auction because..." <BR/><BR/>Christie's has declined to reveal the consignor's identity, but Ryoju Sasaki, a correspondent for Yomiuri in New York was able to interview the seller after the auction. <BR/><BR/>http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/world/news/20080320-OYT1T00159.htm <BR/><BR/>The last part indicates, roughly: <BR/>The consignor is in his early forties, working for a company with non-Japanese capital. He bought the statue eight years ago at an antique store for an amount "one can afford with his salary." He found it a burden to keep it after finding out that it was very likely a work of Unkei. <BR/><BR/>Hoping to keep it within Japan, he contacted the officials at the Bunkacho, but they told him they could not pay his asking price for it under the current regulations. He believed that a buyer at auction would take better care of the statue than an ordinary citizen like himself, and was relieved that it would in fact be coming back to Tokyo.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com