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The ornament scale

Reading the stars

This piece is still being read. Every piece in the house is being scored for character; the stars fill in as each reading is recorded. Meanwhile, the guide below works for any piece.

The idea

Some pieces speak in a whisper and some in full voice. The stars describe that voice, from Quiet to Resplendent, so that you can find the pieces that suit the way you live and collect. A high score is never better than a low one. The stars describe character only, never quality, value or condition.

How a piece is read

Five things, each scored 0 to 2 and added together: Coverage (how much of the surface is decorated), Colour (how many tones, and whether gold or silver is present), Imagery (from plain texture to a full scene), Brilliance (matte to gilded or lacquered) and Silhouette (utilitarian to theatrical). The piece is read as it is shown or worn, ignoring boxes, stands, wear and patina.

What each band says about a collector

Still 0 to 1.5

Pure restraint. For collectors who prize silence, empty space and one perfect form, and who attach to an object through daily use.

Quiet 2 to 3.5

Understated. Material, proportion and patina do the talking. For collectors who love what time and hands have done to a thing.

Balanced 4 to 6

A measured conversation: ornament is present but never shouts. For collectors who want a piece to hold a room without taking it over.

Ornate 6.5 to 8

Rich and deliberate: pictures, colour and craft. For collectors drawn to story, who attach to what an object tells them.

Resplendent 8.5 to 10

Full ornament: gilding, heavy embroidery, theatre. For collectors who collect for wonder and keep each piece for life.

Find your own place on the scale

Five quick questions, no right answers. Choose the one that sounds most like you.

Read further

On collecting, attachment and what objects mean to us.

• Wabi-Sabi: the art of embracing imperfection the quiet end of the scale
• The quiet that endures: why collect Japanese Buddhist statues stillness as a reason to collect
• Japanese maximalism: five thousand years of gold, colour and excess the resplendent end
• The gravity of the samurai: why collect armour and bushidō heritage weight, authority and ornament
• Quiet outsides, noisy insides: tatemae, honne and the self-talk paradox the psyche behind restraint
• Icons without narrative: how repetition becomes power why we return to the same image
• From street to archive: when sneakers become objects how an object turns into an attachment
• Why do we keep coming back to Japan? on longing and return

Questions about a piece? Ask the curator team.