Antique Japanese gusoku bitsu (carrying box for samurai armor). Constructed of Kiri (paulownia) wood with original red lacquer finish and black lacquer frame, its edges reinforced with hand-forged iron plates and locks. The back has shoulder straps, made of leather and braided reeds, on iron rings for carrying. A kanji inscription between the leather straps gives the previous owner's name.

Edo Period (1603-1868)

Dimensions: 31" H x 17" x 14 1/2"

A briliant late Taisho Period C. 1930 murashido bronze brazier/flower vase. Murashido is now a favorite among bronze collectors for its art deco appeal and sensual colors. Dipped in hot oils at firing and then using straw smoke for added coloring. Heavy bronze. Good condition. Ask for shipping quote. 12" hig and 9" in diameter. heavy bronze.

Ohara Koson
Insect Next To Flowering Wisteria
Size: O-tanzaku. Approximately 14.25 x 7.5 inches.
Date: ca. 1910-1923.
Koson signature and seal
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Publisher: Daikokuya (154)
Reference: K43.6 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Jinbo Tomoyo (1902-1994)
Given title: Woman in Lavender Kimono
Date: 1957.
Size: 18.25 x 11.75 inches.
Edition: First.
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Carver: Sato Jurokichi. Printer: Inomura Shonosuke.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.
Note: One of just a few prints made by this artist.
Tomoyo Jinbo (Teisaburo) studied under Hirazaki Eiho and Ito Shinsui.

Japanese hardwood tobacco ban (smoking box) or ladies vanity box with carrying handle. The lid is inlaid with shell and enamel coins and birds, with an animal and wire finial. The middle hardwood divider lifts away to allow access to the lowest sections with four compartment.

Circa 1920s

Dimensions: 8 1/4" x 6" x 8 1/2" High

Kasamatsu Shiro (1898-1991)
Misty Evening at Shinobazu Pond
Date: 1932.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
First edition. Watanabe sausage seal (in use 1929-42).
Shiro seal lower left.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Faint matte line near image edge. Pinhole at margin edge. Light toning and fading.

Antique Japanese kesa, Buddhist monk's traditional outer garment. Made from rich fragments of silk donated by wealthy devotees, kesa are traditionally made of square and rectangular swatches of material symbolizing the Buddha's patchwork garments. In contrast with this idea is the material itself, made of fine woven silks...

A perfect example of the Early Edo Tea aesthetic in this Chatsubo dating from the first half of the Edo period, a splash of black over rust with a white glazed waste from the Seto region around modern day Nagoya. It comes with an ancient wooden bung and wrapping cloth. The pot is roughly 27 cm (11 inches) tall and in overall excellent condition, with typical wear around the foot. No cracks or repairs...

Japanese hand-forged iron jizai, used for suspending a tea kettle over a fire pit within the home. Made with a charming iron fish with incised details of scales, face, and separately attached fins.

Edo period (1603-1868)

Dimensions: 8" w x 48" - 53" long

Paul Jacoulet
Le Phare de Mikimoto, Shimoda Izu (Mikimoto Lighthouse, Shimoda Izu)
Date: February 1954.
Fewer than 80 impressions made. This example is stamped "PRESENT" on the verso.
Size: 17.75 x 13 inches.
Signed and sealed with peony seal. Carver: Maeda. Printer: Onodera
Reference: No. 134 in The Prints of Paul Jacoulet by Richard Miles
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Toning on verso...

Fresh out of the oven, here is a delicious treat to start the new year right, a crusty dancing form by Murakoshi Takuma enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Mimitsuki Hana-ire. Not only does the vase itself feel alive with movement, but the encrustations of ash and glossy molten ash glaze seem to be still in formation, as if it is still settling in the kiln. It is 26 cm (10 inches) tall and in perfect condition...

Occupation era original Japanese shin hanga woodblock print titled "Heirin Temple, Nobidome" by Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) dated in the lower left margin Showa 27 (1952). The artist's black ink signature and red seal are at the lower left corner of the image. The 6mm circular seal of the publisher Watanabe (used 1946-1957) is at the lower left margin corner beneath the date. Paper size: nearly 15 3/4" x 10 1/4" (image size: 14 3/8" x 9 1/2"). Very good overall condition with very good color...

Japanese Porcelain Blue and White large Hibachi with cut out handle on both side and rounded deep top rim, Ca. 1900, 12" high, 19" diameter outer size, with rounded curved inside to make round top rim, underglaze blue and white design is bold and large, covers entire side with pine tree, steep streams in large scale of natural landscape. The handles on both side is cut out from the main body makes easier to lift and handle the heavy piece of Hibachi. The condition is good, no damages.

Set of two bronze ewers for pouring sake at a banquet or wedding ceremony. One sake ewer with a long handle and two spouts (called naga-e choshi), used to serve sake to guest. At smaller gatherings, only one spout is used; when larger numbers of people need to be served, both spouts may be used...

Hanging scroll. Shoki holds Futen’s wind bag which balloons around him and protects him from a very light rain. While Shoki has his hands full trying to control the wind bag, his bulging eyes are rolled in defeat and annoyance towards the right, where a little demon who has a Chinese mortar on his head and holds the pestle in its hand jumps in front of him.
Ink and color on silk...

Sculpture of Fudo standing in front of a flaming halo from which three phoenix heads emerge. Fudo holds his sword in his right hand, his rope in his left. His flaming halo is curved, surrounding him in a dramatic way.
Exquisite carving in very soft wood, probably cryptomeria (sugi), lightly stained with a shade of darker brown.
Japan, Meiji period.

Height 10.6 in. (27.6 cm).

Excellent condition

Small round zushi consisting of two parts. The outside of both are covered in nashiji lacquer. On the inside of the one part in relief is carved in fine detail the image of Bishamonten holding a trident and a pagoda, subduing two demons. Inside the cover sits Benzaiten playing the biwa.
Bishamon and Benten are two of the seven gods of good fortune (shichifukujin), but they each hold a position in the Buddhist pantheon, as well.
Both images in plain, unpainted camphor wood...

Hanging scroll. A circle on a black background, divided into ten sections around a white central circle that holds the character ‘shin’, meaning heart or soul. The ten sections represent the ten realms that are the ten possibilities of rebirth. On top the four realms of enlightened beings: Buddhas, Boshisattvas, arhats and pratyeka Buddhas. Underneath, the six realms (rokudo): Heavenly beings, humans, Bellicose demons (Ashura), animals, hungry ghosts and hell...