Explore the Collection of this artwork.
Among the eight collections assembled, published, and exhibited by London-based collector, scholar and philanthropist Nasser Khalili is a collection of Japanese decorative art of the Meiji era, considered to be only equalled by the collection of the Japanese imperial family. The complete garniture is now part of that collection. Khalili acquired the first vase, depicting eagles, in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. He displayed it at a 1999 exhibition of Meiji art in Wilmington, Delaware in 1999. The incense burner depicting chickens was owned by Hirose Atsushi and displayed at the Tokyo National Museum before being bought by Khalili in 2000. The other vase, depicting a dragon, was considered "lost". In January 2019 it was found to have been the centerpiece of the main dining room of Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto in Berkeley, California, one of the oldest restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. Frank Spenger, son of the restaurant's founder, had acquired the vase at the 1894 California Midwinter Fair. On 17 February 2019, Khalili bought it for $110,000 at an auction of Spenger family items, thus reuniting the garniture after more than 120 years.
1894 California Midwinter Fair Los Angeles San Francisco Bay area Wilmington, Delaware the eight collections collection of Japanese decorative art of the Meiji era Nasser Khalili dragon Japanese Japanese imperial family Meiji era incense burner Tokyo National Museum Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto Japan Berkeley, California garniture