The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance
A Hidden Inheritance
Edmund De Waal
- 264
- wood
- and
- ivory
- carvings,
- none
- of
- them
- larger
- than
- a
- matchbox:
- potter
- Edmund
- de
- Waal
- was
- entranced
- when
- he
- first
- encountered
- the
- collection
- in
- the
- Tokyo
- apartment
- of
- his
- great
- uncle
- Iggie.
- Later,
- when
- Edmund
- inherited
- the
- 'netsuke',
- they
- unlocked
- a
- story
- far
- larger
- than
- he
- could
- ever
- have
- imagined...The
- Ephrussis
- came
- from
- Odessa,
- and
- at
- one
- time
- were
- the
- largest
- grain
- exporters
- in
- the
- world;
- in
- the
- 1870s,
- Charles
- Ephrussi
- was
- part
- of
- a
- wealthy
- new
- generation
- settling
- in
- Paris.
- Charles's
- passion
- was
- collecting;
- the
- netsuke,
- bought
- when
- Japanese
- objets
- were
- all
- the
- rage
- in
- the
- salons,
- were
- sent
- as
- a
- wedding
- present
- to
- his
- banker
- cousin
- in
- Vienna.Later,
- three
- children
- -
- including
- a
- young
- Ignace
- -
- would
- play
- with
- the
- netsuke
- as
- history
- reverberated
- around
- them.
- The
- Anschluss
- and
- Second
- World
- War
- swept
- the
- Ephrussis
- to
- the
- brink
- of
- oblivion.
- Almost
- all
- that
- remained
- of
- their
- vast
- empire
- was
- the
- netsuke
- collection,
- dramatically
- saved
- by
- a
- loyal
- maid
- when
- their
- huge
- Viennese
- palace
- was
- occupied.In
- this
- stunningly
- original
- memoir,
- Edmund
- de
- Waal
- travels
- the
- world
- to
- stand
- in
- the
- great
- buildings
- his
- forebears
- once
- inhabited.
- He
- traces
- the
- network
- of
- a
- remarkable
- family
- against
- the
- backdrop
- of
- a
- tumultuous
- century
- and
- tells
- the
- story
- of
- a
- unique collection.
