Discovering a missing masterpiece of Meiji cloisonne

Early 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. According to the Spenger family, their great-grandfather, Frank Spenger, had bought the vase in 1894 at the Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The only other information they had was the that it had previously been exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The vase, with its spectacular dragon rising from the waves was a focus of the maritime theme décor of the restaurant, standing out among an eclectic collection of maritime memorabilia. Deric quickly recognized that it was a significant work of art and as a history buff and avid researcher, he began seeking more information. When he described the vase over the phone, it was immediately clear that it was the missing piece of a magnificent three piece set of Meiji period cloisonné enamelware – a set of two vases flanking a censer – that I had long been interested in. this identification was confirmed soon after when he sent me a photograph of it.