Asian paintings, statues, swords and more....

Gentle reader,

There are many things that interest me and some of them I wonder why. For instance Big Band music and World War II. If one believes that there is reincarnation, then perhaps I was killed in WWII when Big Band music was so popular in a previous life. That might explain those two.

Conversely, I think I can trace my love of Asian art to a tall Japanese doll in full kimono that my Aunt Ardith had. As an elementary school-age boy, I liked to sit and look and look at that doll. The detail was amazing. So lifelike, so much work that must have gone into it. 

Returning to the present, she gave it to me a little while back. My mother (her older sister) had asked me in an e-mail if I had received Ardith's package yet. "What package?" "Oh, you'll see.", is all she would say on the subject. Ardith is my only aunt. She produced one daughter, so I have one cousin, too. Oh, and she tells me I am her favorite. Of course, she is my favorite too. We are kindred spirits, she says.

Back to the subject at hand. This end of our humble suburban split-foyer home has three bedrooms. The one I am sitting in I chose as our home office. To the right of it's door is the master bedroom. Yet a previous owner had finished the downstairs and made a large master bedroom. So, one daughter got the larger bedroom upstairs and the other the smaller one. That room is on the other side of the wall in front of me and directly across from the upstairs bathroom. 

As time passed both daughters grew up and moved out. We painted the larger bedroom a chocolate brown with white crown and chair rail molding and a beige ceiling. The little alcove that holds a vanity and a door leading directly into the bathroom is tan colored. We put the 32" flat screen TV and audio/video equipment in that room with matching chairs from Ikea. It was pretty sparse in there. The stereo remained in the living room. Some time later, I asked my wife what she thought of moving the TV etcetera into the living room and the stereo into the den? She loved it! I posted about that back then. I wrote about it here:

The Robb Collections: Massive Changes

The other girl's bedroom became my wife's home office. So, from a four bedroom house we now have a one bedroom, two bath, two office, one den and one family room house. All in less than 2000 square feet. Way less.

History now fully set aside, here follows an update on the Asian artifacts decorating the "listening" room as it is now called. I have shown MANY things in previous posts about the progression of the stereo/surround sound equipment and other things that have populated the den.
Previous posts about the Asian items as I acquired and displayed them are found here:

The Robb Collections: My Asian obsession and other new stuff plus more speakers!
The Robb Collections: New Asian art, electronics, Audiophile LPs & other changes   

The photos below start from one sitting in the listening chair with the left wall towards the front corner and moves around the room clockwise. I had to shoot from an angle to prevent the flash (pointing straight up with a diffuser on it) from appearing in the glass covering so many of the items.
NOTE: Clicking on any photo will open up a viewing page that will show them much larger. One can use their left and right arrow keys to look through them.

These two very detailed prints were thrift store finds. The calico cat is especially appealing as we had a similar one once.

Again, these four prints were thrift store finds. I like the almost monochromatic bamboo painting. The one on the right appears to be Japanese based upon the pagoda.

The two above are almost surrealistic. It is difficult to photograph items behind glass as it reflects so many things as you can see above.

Again, reflections are seen in both of these images.  These two prints are in the corner caddy-corner from the top-most image. Halfway round the room at this point. The painting below appears to be old. Again, one can see the light from the window and other things reflected in it.

Now we are back where we started, but below the swords. I had the swords placed atop a wooden CD shelf. I no longer needed it, so searched for an appropriate shelf. On eBay, I found a "floating" shelf that was the perfect size and color. The statue is of many men in a dragon shaped boat. I had it elsewhere in the room before today.

There is a name for simulated Bonsai, but I don't recall what it is. As I have pointed out before, so many things are meant to be viewed without the magnifying ability of a digital camera. This obviously plastic setup I found and placed in this square bowl. I added soil below it and planted real moss. Over time I forgot to water it. Oops.

This tree is far more realistic as is the moss. Appears to mimic Juniper which is popular for Bonsai. It sits on the same shelf and beside the little speaker on the left side of the front wall.

The tree above is the most extensive and is in a proper Bonsai pot. It reminds me of a Jade plant. Those CDs are box sets of mostly Classical symphonies.

This tree too is very realistic. The obvious joint between the base of the trunk and the roots is the giveaway that it is manufactured. Juniper again. This tree sits beside the right little speaker at the front of the room. 

This cool looking red dragon is on the left of the CDs. It and all the other dragon statues have the ball in one front foot/claw. I forget the significance of that.

 This black dragon is coiled, as you can see. It is holding the ball with it's right front foot/claw and appears to be in water.

I am impressed and marvel at the artisans to produce these three dimensional dioramas using cork. The things the can make out of it is just fantastic!

As noted in a previous post, I added this Japanese print to the rear of this very large artwork. One can see Mount Fuji in the background.

These two smaller ones rest atop their larger brother. This dragon is the most colorful I have ever seen and reminds me of the kind that appears in parades or Asian celebrations.

Here is Ardith's doll that so fascinated me so many decades ago. The screen before her we found in an antiques shop and I just had to have it.

I also reported upon this magnificent dragon. Such an amazing job of making it look like aged bronze.

This brass depiction of a windblown tree I have had in various places around the room. I decided to place it so that is appears to grow from the chair rail molding. Didn't get it quite right, but that's OK. I'm human and have been fighting my OCD side that wants to FIX IT! 

Above is a detail shot of the swords handles. As I reported in the past, the bottom one was given to me, along with the stand, by my nephew. He was deploying to Mogadishu, Somalia for a year providing security to diplomats. The number of things he gave me caused me to think he thought he might not be coming back. He did, without a scratch. 

He told us how and where he acquired this sword and that it is the real deal. Two of his friends were looking at it and both ended up bleeding. Guys being guys, they fooled around. One ended up with it embedded in his leg and the other nearly cut off his fingers trying to get it out of the leg. Both survived with scars and hopefully wiser.

The smaller sword is a typical replica with a stainless steel non-sharp blade. I went ahead and sharpened it and refinished the scabbard in black to match the real sword.

Lastly, is a photo of the Asian cat skin. Asian because it is from a Fishing Cat. My late-friend, Colonel Bill Arps bought it in Thailand long ago. I do not hunt and he didn't either. 

My wife wanted to flesh it out and added the brown backing with some stuffing. Our cat, Moe was walking on it "helping" her and spotted the "eyes" she added. He jumped straight up! Then fled the room. We laughed so hard we cried.

 

Thanks once again for looking. 

 

Scott