The Palais Ephrussi in Vienna in August 2016
In 2013 I read a fascinating book by Edmund De Waal titled The Hare with Amber Eyes which tells the story of the Ephrussi family and their descendants, of which De Waal is one, from the early 19th century through to the present day. The title of the book is taken from a netsuke (pronounced nets-skay) in De Waal's posession which has been passed down to him through the family. A netsuke is a small hand carved figurine from Japan typically made from wood or in some cases ivory. Netsuke can be centuries old and extremely valuable as pieces of art. De Waal inherited a collection of 264 netsuke from an uncle.
De Waal tracks the history of how the netsuke came to be in the family and in doing so goes back to the origins of the Ephrussi family in Odessa in Russia. The Ephrussi family became wealthy from the grain business in Russia and sent their sons off the to the capitals of Europe to make their fortunes in banking and business. One of the sons settles in Paris and not having much interest in business becomes a patron of the arts and a fixture in the Paris salons. This happens to coincide with the Meiji era in Japan where that country started to open up to the rest of the world after centuries of isolation. Japanese objet d'art became all the rage among the elites in Paris and the Ephrussi family soon acquired Japanese art, including the collection of netsuke, to go along with their growing collection of European art.
Jumping forward to the 1930's the netsuke are passed down through the family and end up in Vienna. The Ephrussi family by this stage are wealthy financiers and art collectors and reside in grand Palais Ephrussi on the Vienna Ringstrasse in the centre of the city. In 1938 the Nazis annex Austria (the Anschluss) and establish their headquarters in the Palais Ephrussi, evicting the family and taking possession of the family's artworks and valuables, including the netsuke. The family lose everything and spend what money they have in escaping to Britain.
I won't reveal anymore, but how the netsuke come to return to the Ephrussi family is extraordinary and tragic at the same time. Of the family fortune nothing was ever repatriated to the family and the artworks disappeared across Europe. After the war the Austrian Government also refused to hand back the Palais Ephrussi to the family. It still stands in the centre of Vienna and the photo above is one I took when I visited the city in 2016. After having read the book it was a wonderful experience to find the Palais and reflect on the history which played out within its walls.
In 2014 I visited Japan and found some netsuke for sale in a shop in Nikko. A beautiful little town which has a rich history itself. I never purchased the netsuke, a decision I regret now, but one I hope to rectify one day if I ever travel again to Japan.
I cannot recommend The Hare with Amber Eyes enough as a book. It spans a tumultuous time in European history and is beautiful and tragic and never less than fascinating.
Here's a short video of Edmund De Waal speaking about netsuke.
Until next time, peace and love.
*By Gryffindor - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53413030
