Lure of the Far East, Art and Antiques, 2000 Oct

Leaving the din and fumes of Bangkok's hellish traffic 14 floors below, Alex Kerr' guides visitors past the front doors of the ample apartment where he lives and works as a private art dealer. The first object that comes into view in his startling Asian art collection is a circa-1600 Japanese screen made with six gold-leaf panels covered with shikishi – placques of elegant, spidery calligraphy. …