Prince Asaka was a member of Japan’s imperial family and an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army. In 1922, he was sent to France to study military strategy at the French national military academy at Saint Cyr and he remained in France until 1925. That summer, the prince and his wife visited the International exhibition of modern decorative and industrial arts.
Two years later, René Lalique was one of a number of French artists and craftsmen commissioned to work on the interior design of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko’s residence in Tokyo. He created the lighting elements, but the most spectacular piece he contributed was without doubt the lounge door, comprising four glass panels in the central section, adorned with female busts in high-relief, swathed in radiantly feathered wings and garlands of flowers.
This perfect manifesto of Art Deco style was completed in 1933. Fifty years later, Prince Asaka’s palace was opened to visitors when it became the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.
