The Teien Art Museum had a special exhibition on Old Noritake porcelain. This museum is almost next door to our house. We do live right next door to another museum, the Matsuoka Museum, that we haven't visited yet. The Teien Art is Museum round 2 corners. This photo is of the sculpture in their gardens.The exhibition itself had a good selection of their porcelain. The introduction explains the Japanese desire to enter the European porcelain market but failed to gain any share initially till the Art Deco era when the traditional bone china companies couldn't supply the demand for porcelain, esp with the expansion of the United States. Noritake was sold as the cheaper porcelain for the same quality china.
Noritake and that type of porcelain was not popular in Japan. Not till the Art Deco era when the Japanese were encouraged to embrace the western culture. At this time Art Deco was what they embraced. The house this museum is in was the residence to Prince Asaka which was built completely in an Art Deco style. The main interior was created y French designer Henri Rapin while Rene Lalique assited in the interior design.
The house was something more impressive than the porcelain. The study in the house, a small round wood panelled room with 2 floor to ceiling windows surrounded by bookcases. In the centre was a round Art Deco styled desk on a geometric patterned carpet. I could picture Poirrot utterly impressed with this room. It had the black and white tiled solariums, balconies - a must visit. The Noritake exhibition allowed us to meander through the house, as a secondary exhibition. The house is surrounded by beautiful lawned gardens with a pond.
Behind this house and gardens is the Insititute of Nature Study, a really different part of Tokyo.
The museum leads you to a cafe where Jon, Suzi, Stephen and I met for coffee. The coffee is served in Japanese wooden bowls and tastes great. The sweet we had with it - almond brulee with strawberries was well received.
