DISCOVERING A MISSING MASTERPIECE OF MEIJI CLOISONNE – TAASA Review March 2020

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This article was originally found in the March 2020 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 29, Issue 1, Page 4).

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Judith Snodgrass E arly in January 2019 I received an email from Deric Torres, Vice President and Director of Decorative Arts at Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, California, asking if he might call me to discuss a vase that was part of a consignment he was handling.

Spenger’s Fish Grotto, a landmark restaurant in Berkeley, had closed after 128 years and the contents of the building were to be put to auction. Interior of Spenger’s Fish Grotto Restaurant, Berkeley.

Photo courtesy of Clars Auction Gallery According to the Spenger family, their greatgrandfather, Frank Spenger, had bought the vase in 1894 at the Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco...