According to the potter who crafted this fine piece, “The clay from our area in the north is alive. We listen to it in order to divine the most suitable objects to create.” Here we see the clay wished to become a well-formed ceremonial tea bowl with an impressionistic rendition of a Japanese Iris. Simple, well formed, and with a soft rusticity; a cup of tea becomes a meditation on the charms of quiet country living.

Originally from Iwate (b...

Tsuchiya Koitsu (1870 - 1949)
Tokaido Numazu Harbour.
Date: 1940.
Size: Oban. Approximately 17 x 11.25 inches.
Publisher: Doi Hangaten. Publisher's watermark at upper left margin.
Carver: Harada. Printer: Yokoi. This seal combination indicates an early post-war edition.
Reference: TK-DH-63.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Paper is slightly toned.

Japanese woodblock print by Okiie Hashimoto (1899-1993). # 2/60 in its series, titled "Quiet B (Nagasaki)", signed in pencil. Red cartouche in upper righthand corner.

Hashimoto was born off the coast of the Tottori Prefecture of Japan in 1899. He graduated from the College of Art in Tokyo in 1923 and continued his studies under Itaru Tanabe and Shod Hirata...

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Morning Rain at Lake Hakone
Date: 1938.
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.5 x 11.0 inches.
Publisher: Doi Hangaten.
Printer: Yokoi. Carver: Harada.
This combination of seals indicates an early postwar edition. Also bears the Doi watermark.
Condition: A couple of faint foxing spots in water.

Ito Shinsui (1898-1972)
Peaches and Melon. From the Three Still Lifes series.
Date: 1939.
Size: Approximately 19 x 14.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Artist's signature and seal.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Toning. Fading. Repairs made to margins and portion near left edge.

Takahashi Shotei (Hiroaki)
Woman returning in autumn evening
Size: Mitsugiri-ban. Approximately 15 x 6.75 inches.
Date: pre-1936.
Shotei seal at left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
No. 205 in 1936 Watanabe catalog. M-5 in Shotei catalog.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Japanese Edo period woodblock print titled “Azuma Shrine and the Entwined Camphor” (#31) depicting boats passing through the Jukkengawa Canal with cherry blossoms lining the embankment from the series “One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo” by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) published by Uoya Eikichi (Uoei) in 7/1856. Paper: nearly 14” x 9 3/8” (image: 13 3/8” x 8 5/8”). Very good color and overall condition...

Looking something akin to dragon skin with gilded beads glistening between the scales, this recent creation by young artist Hiramatsu Ryoma demonstrates his creative imagination and challenges the traditional boundaries of what defines a Tokkuri (Saké flask)...

Hiratsuka Un-ichi
Pagoda of Joruriji Temple, Kyoto
Date: 1960
Edition: 21/80
Size: Approximately 20 x 13.25 inches.
Artist's seal lower left. Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Back margin has tape remnants. Outer margin toned.

An antique Japanese Ko Tansu known as a personal storage chest made entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. All original reddish bronze fittings using straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nails in its construction. The two sliding doors hides a split level shelf with additional storage.

Originally used to store letters, books, documents, writing instruments, and other personal family effects...

This is a fine Japanese Imari bowl purchased a few years ago from a collection belonging to a San Francisco Museum. The inventory numbers on this de-accessioned piece can be seen on the underside of the bowl. The bowl is beautiful and has a wonderful fluted design. It measures 10 across and is just under 4 1/2 inches tall. Condition is excellent.

This 19th Century, finely hand-carved Iwami Ebony Netsuke that shares similar carving and material characteristics as the Tree Stump attibuted to Jikan Ganbun depicts a Toad that also provides a functionality of an Ashtray. This toad is also remarkably similar to the toad that the Gamma Sennin (item 98 of Bonhams Iwami Catalog* – photo # 6) is sitting on...

Katharine Jowett (1890-1965) Sunset Behind East Gate, Peking.
Date: ca. 1930.
Size: 10.5 x 6.0 inches.
Pencil-signed by the artist.
Medium: Woodblock print.
Condition: Light crease. See additional photos. Top back margin has transparent tape from previous framing.

Antique Japanese pair of bronze candle sticks. Simple and elegant with bell shaped feet. Most likely for use at a temple shrine.

Age: Edo Period (early 1800's)

Dimensions: 13" high x 4 1/4" wide at base

Antique Japanese tall and graceful lotus blossom. Made to be part of a Buddhist altar arrangement. The lotus represents enlightenment blooming from out of the mud. Carved of wood and lacquered gold. Lotus petals are carved separately and joined. Fitted with a custom metal stand.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 27" high (including stand)

Antique Japanese gracefully curling tall lotus leaf. Made to be part of a Buddhist altar arrangement. The lotus represents enlightenment blooming from out of the mud. Carved of wood and lacquered gold. Fitted with a custom metal stand.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 27 1/2" high (including stand)

Antique Japanese wide lotus leaf. Made to be part of a Buddhist altar arrangement. The lotus represents enlightenment blooming from out of the mud. Carved of wood and lacquered gold. Fitted with a custom metal stand.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 20 3/4" high (including stand)

Kikuchi Yuichi (aka Tomokazu)
Shinano Taisho Pond
Date: 1954.
Size: Oban. Approximately 14.75 x 9.75 inches.
Publisher: Adachi. Seal on back.
Yuichi seal at lower left.
Condition: Slight fading. Flattened crease along top margin.
Most Kikuchi Yuichi prints are small. This oban-sized work is rarely seen.