This one?
THE Zelkova
- Thread starter Adair M
- Start date
No, not that one. That’s not rare! Lol!!! No, it’s a very large, heavy book, from what I understand.
Moridin
Shohin
Stunning!
barrosinc
Masterpiece
wowzer!
Gary McCarthy
Chumono
OH MY!!!
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
Amazng stuff here,Adair!
Mike Westervelt
Shohin
So your zelkova is not in the Yoshimura & Halford book as I proposed?
I have The Masters Book of Bonsai and the 2 brooms don't look quite right , but I would obviously not question Mr. V.
I have The Masters Book of Bonsai and the 2 brooms don't look quite right , but I would obviously not question Mr. V.
Bill said it wasn’t. But, I have a picture of the tree when it was imported. And I’ve compared that picture to the one in the Yoshimura book. And they look like they “could” be the same tree. There’s a crossing branch on both of those trees at the exact same location. The problem is, the picture in the book is tiny. So, it’s really hard to be absolutely certain.
Bill told me that the tree had not been owned by the Yoshimura family when it was displayed at Kokofu in 1954. And it was put up for auction in 1968 at a commercial bonsai auction in Japan. Yugi Yoshimura was acting as Mr. Beach’s agent at the auction, and bought it for him. And it was imported to the US soon after. But to his knowledge, it was never actually owned by the Yoshimura’s. (I have heard that there was some opposition to exporting it out of Japan, and maybe that’s why Yugi got involved. I don’t know.)
Now, the person I bought it from told me that it had been owned by Yugi’s father. I don’t think he was intentionally trying to mislead me, but he may have gotten the story a little mixed up. Bill V was Yugi’s student, and I feel very confident that Bill’s account is accurate.
But… is it the tree in the “Minature Trees and Landscapes” book? I tend to think so, but I can’t be 100% sure. From everything I have found, it was considered one of the best Zelkova (maybe THE best?) in Japan at the time it went to auction. It had been in Kokofu, and I’m sure in many other shows, so there were probably many photos of it, taken at different stages of its life. So, Yugi may have used one of those pictures of it in his book. I just don’t know for sure.
Bill told me that the tree had not been owned by the Yoshimura family when it was displayed at Kokofu in 1954. And it was put up for auction in 1968 at a commercial bonsai auction in Japan. Yugi Yoshimura was acting as Mr. Beach’s agent at the auction, and bought it for him. And it was imported to the US soon after. But to his knowledge, it was never actually owned by the Yoshimura’s. (I have heard that there was some opposition to exporting it out of Japan, and maybe that’s why Yugi got involved. I don’t know.)
Now, the person I bought it from told me that it had been owned by Yugi’s father. I don’t think he was intentionally trying to mislead me, but he may have gotten the story a little mixed up. Bill V was Yugi’s student, and I feel very confident that Bill’s account is accurate.
But… is it the tree in the “Minature Trees and Landscapes” book? I tend to think so, but I can’t be 100% sure. From everything I have found, it was considered one of the best Zelkova (maybe THE best?) in Japan at the time it went to auction. It had been in Kokofu, and I’m sure in many other shows, so there were probably many photos of it, taken at different stages of its life. So, Yugi may have used one of those pictures of it in his book. I just don’t know for sure.
There are two “Masters Book of Bonsai”, apparently. One is a relatively common, small picture book. It’s wider than tall. The other is extremely rare and expensive. And rather large I have not seen one. Bull V, of course has a copy. So does the person who sold me the tree.
ibakey
Mame
Wow. Very impressive tree indeed. Thanks for sharing Adair!
I was wondering if at such an age, does the tree slow down in its summer growth? So it basically took also a century for the tree to mature.
I was wondering if at such an age, does the tree slow down in its summer growth? So it basically took also a century for the tree to mature.
Crazy Diamond
Omono
Its normal to feel romantic attraction to a tree? asking for a friend xD
Japonicus
Masterpiece
Well, it won “Best Deciduous” at the Winter Silhouette show for 2021. It is probably the best Zelkova in the country. I haven’t seen another that rivals it. A winter show is perfect for it since the twigs and ramification are highlighted when it’s bare.
The Atlanta Bonsai Society is going to print T-Shirts with a picture of it and have them for sale at our Spring Show. If anyone here is interested let me know. (I don’t know anything about pricing yet, they just asked me today if they could use the image, and I agreed they could.) It would be this picture:
hampton
Shohin
Beautiful tree. Is the current pot the same as pictured in the image from the Kokufu?
Japonicus
Masterpiece
Joe Noga got a very level shot there.
I'll take 2 count, size Large please.
EDIT: if you start another thread for that purpose, please tag me.
Not at all. The previous owner bought this pot about 10 years ago in Japan for it. The Kokufu pot appears to be much darker: All I have is this image in black and white:
Ugo
Shohin
Thanks, I’d like to take credit for it, but, it’s development has taken 100 years, and I’ve only owned it since September.@Adair M Beautiful tree and impressive work, ''best deciduous'' well deserved
The bark aged really well.
This is an example of a “generational” tree. A tree like this simply cannot be developed by a single person during their lifetime. I know it’s provenance from when it was imported, but that has only been the second half of this tree’s life. How many people worked on this tree during it’s 50 years in Japan before it was imported?
And the bark… it has only developed the rough bark in the past 15 years or so. That means that it had smooth bark for 85 years!!! I mean, if you started this tree from seed, at birth, you would have to live to the age of 85 before the tree even BEGAN to develop the rough bark!
ibakey
Mame
Seeing that the zelkova easily lives up to 1000 years, the tree probably just went through puberty and roughed up it’s bark! It’s really wonderful to look at a bonsai and ponder upon how many ppl have toiled upon it. Probably akin to an old building built ages ago.
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