Japanese exhibition...

Lazy day today but I did visit the Japanese exhibition.
James de Saumarez was in the British Diplomatic Service and was eventually posted to Japan and he completely fell in love with everything Japanese.
In the 1870s he had a Japanese house carefully dismantled and crated then shipped to Guernsey. Unfortunately Guernsey carpenters were unable to decipher the (flat pack!) instructions on how to re-assemble it so he had to bring several Japanese craftsmen over to Guernsey to do the work.
When James died in 1937 the Japanese furniture and artifacts were removed by his family. These are now the subject of the exhibition.
The house fell into disrepair during the German Occupation and it is believed the Germans demolished the remains towards the end of the war.
There are still traces of Japanese Gardens in what is now Saumarez Park and a pagoda at the edge of the pond is still loved today.

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