This book goes
into great detail and is very long – you have to be determined to stick with it
through to the end.
The story centres
on the Netsuke which are tiny Japanese carved figures of wood and ivory,
designed to be held in the hand and there are 264 of them in the collection.
The book details
the history of them since they were first collected by the Ephrussi family in
Vienna in the 19th century. They were very rich Jews who also had
family connections in Paris and Tokyo.
The author, who
now owns the collection, spent two years tracing their history and that of the
family through two world wars. The family originally owned a bank in Vienna and
had several large mansions around Austria with many servants and a fine
collection of art – paintings, tapestries, porcelain and jewellery and the
netsuke which were all displayed in a glass fronted cabinet.
The author travels
around Europe, locating their houses and investigating the lives of the
original inhabitants. The book goes into great detail about their lives and all
the art treasures.
property, their
jobs and their possessions, except for the netsuke which were hidden by one of
the faithful servants, as Hitler established his Third Reich. The descriptions
of their lives during this time are quite heart-rending.
The family all
gradually leave Austria – the last member escaping with just one suitcase and
ending up in Tunbridge Wells, living with relations.
I found the book
unnecessarily long, but it was two years work by the Author and he has recorded
everything he discovered. A book for lovers of art, in all its forms, but not,
I am afraid, for me. I only read it because our Chaplain mentioned it in one of
his sermons and I thought it sounded interesting as it is
a true story, but I found it much too long and detailed.
No comments:
Post a Comment