Auction Catalogue Oriental Arts Collection of Robert Balzer 1967 [Alan Watts tie-in] Chinese & Japanese Collection of LA Times Wine Critic

Title: Catalogue - The Renowned Oriental Arts Collection of Mr. Robert Balzer and Others: European Furniture, Bronzes, Crystal, Porcelains, Paintings. At auction September 11 ,12, 1967

Author: Marvin H. Newman; catalogued by Walter Doran and Lewes Lloyd

Description: Staple-bound in card covers. Covers toned; spot of discoloration on rear cover. Prices realized are penciled-in for most of the day-two items (the Oriental part of the auction). 30 pp. 8.75 x 5.75 inches. 330 items cataloged.

Auction catalog including Robert Balzer's collection of Oriental art pieces (mostly Chinese with some Japanese, Siamese/Thai, Tibetan, Nepalese, and Korean items).

A curious note is penciled next to item 211A (15th Century Sesshu Six-Panel Screen) which reads: ''Alan Watts says worth $15,000.''

Watts certainly had taken notice of the Sesshu screen at Balzer's home, so much so that he specifically mentions it in his 1972 autobiography. He writes, in detailing some of the fantastic private homes he visited in Southern California, ''Robert Balzer's Japanese fantasy, high on the Hollywood hills, with polished wooden corridors, white carpets, Chinese statuary, and a screen by Sesshu, where this celebrated gourmet, chef, winemaster, and Buddhist entertained us one evening to an imitation of Merce Cunningham dancing to the music of John Cage...''. Lucky bidder, the item sold for $2000.

Robert Balzer (1912-2011) was one of California's earliest and most influential wine writers. He was also an educator, author and restaurateur. During the 1950s, while on assignment as a press photographer, he studied Buddhism at a Cambodian temple, becoming an ordained teaching monk.

Binding: Staple bound soft cover
Condition: Very Good

Publisher: Marvin H. Newman, Auctioneers
Place: Los Angeles, California
Year: 1967

Keywords: Robert Balzer, Alan Watts, Sesshu, Chinese, Oriental, Orientalia, Japanese, art, collections,