Antique Japanese hand scroll painting of Legends of Mount Shigi based on a painting called Shigisan-engi. The long narrative scroll depicts miracles revolving around a monk named Myoren who lived on Mount Shigi. According to the legends, Myoren was drawn to Mount Shigi by a Buddha statue. He built a shrine there and, that winter, he survived on rice provided to him by his roving rice bowl...

Ohara Shoson (Koson)
Night heron on the bough of a willow tree in the rain
Size: Approximately 11.25 x 10.5 inches.
Date: ca. 1935.
Shoson signature and seal at lower right.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Reference: S14.1 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Never displayed.

Antique Japanese scroll painting, with an arrangement representing a bounty of good fortune. Fish top a bushel of rice and are tied with roped straw in an auspicious presentation meant to bring in a bounty of fortune. Adding to it, three of the Lucky Gods make an appearance in miniature, treating the decoration as if it were a boat or their ship of good luck. Sumi ink on silk. Dates from 18th century.

Dimensions: Total size: 44" high x 22 1/4" wide (24 1/2" wide including ends)...

A patinated bronze okimono of a young woman with a beautiful face, dating around 1910. On her back a large basket and in her hand she was carrying a tool. Signed "Seiya" on the base. Dimension: 29.5 cm high, weight: 2.4 kg. Condition: tool broken off, few tiny areas with wear to the patina.

Unusual Japanese Kiri (paulownia) tansu with 8 drawers and a lift away panel opening to a shelved interior with spacious room. The 8 front drawers feature small round locks and warabite pulls. Original finish and condition.

Meiji period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 25" L x 12 1/2" D x 19 1/2" H

Japanese iron tsuba, or hand guard for a samurai's sword, with cast motifs of waves inlaid with gold and silver, the patina indicates age and wear from use.

Edo period (1603-1868)

Dimensions: 2 3/4" x 3"

A Capricious sculpture like a colorful head towel removed yet retaining its shape by pioneering 20th century female artist Matsuda Yuriko signed on the base and enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kinrande Utsuwa. It is 9 x 7 x 5 1/2 Inches (22 x 17 x 14 cm) and in excellent condition.
Matsuda Yuriko was born in Ashiya, Hyōgō Prefecture in 1943nd lives and works in Oshino, Yamanashi Prefecture...

The creator of this exceptional tea bowl is Koto Kenshi, a native of the town of Hagi in Yamaguchi prefecture who has been producing many fine works since opening his studio in 1970. This piece features a milky ashen glaze with a portion of the foot of the tea bowl exposed, displaying the reddish coarse clay beneath.

Hagi-yaki has a tradition stretching back over 400 years and is a high-fired stoneware type of pottery...

Rare pre-earthquake "chirimen-e" (creped) Japanese “mitsugiri-ban” format shin hanga woodblock print by Takahashi Shotei, also known as Hiroaki (1871 - 1945) titled “Starlight Night” published by Watanabe circa 1918. Red Shotei seal at the lower right. Paper size: 5 3/8" x 12." (margins included). This image is cataloged as #M-17 on the informative website www.shotei.com...

An antique Japanese Kunimatsu cash register made of hinoki wood with hand painted details in red and gold, tin knobs and scrolling trim. The center has an embossed manufacturer's trademark. The exterior has a white marble ledge. Under the ledge are the numbers in red ink, 50, 10, 5 & 1's. It is a working cash register with a bell when the drawer springs open. There is a key that opens the backside to change the paper roll...

A sculpture in black glaze by Yoshitake Hiroshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Sakuhin B and dating circa 1980. Very much in the vein of this important avant-garde organization, it has a great deal of presence compacted into a small space. A nearly identical work is published in the book: Sodeisha, 35th Anniversary (Sodeisha, Sanjugoshunen Kinenhan, 1983) which is titled Suikan (Inebriated). Interestingly, Suikan is also a homonym for water pipes...

Closely resembling a historically important tea bowl made by one of the forebears of the art of tea and Raku pottery, Chojiro, this piece gives one a sense of the deep origins of tea culture.

Fired in the kilns of one of Kyoto’s best known Raku-yaki potters, Sasaki Shoraku III (1944-). The Shoraku line began when the grandfather of the current potter established a kiln near the famous Kiyomizu temple, nestled at the foot of the eastern mountains in Kyoto...

Japanese antique burl hand warmer, typically used in the tea ceremony where each participant would have their own charcoal heater. Nowadays, this container (hibachi) can be used to store all manner of small items and makes a delightful table top accessory.

Dates Edo Period 19th century
Size H 6 1/2" x W 13" x D 10"

Japanese hand split bamboo basket with high slender sides rising from a square base to a round lip. Bamboo intertwined into a handle fashioned with small split bamboo. Cheveron pattern is seen repeating on all sides with a squad symmetrical pattern seen on the base.

Ikebana (生け花, 活け花, "arranging flowers" or "making flowers alive") is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.[1][2] It is also known as Kadō (華道, "way of flowers")...

Ohara Hoson (Koson)
Flowering Lotus
Size: Oban. Approximately 14.25 x 9.5 inches.
Date: 1920s. First edition.
Publisher: Kawaguchi and Sakai. Publisher's seal in right margin. Carver (Maeda) and printer (Komatsu) seals in left margin.
Koson's "Hoson" signature and seal at lower right.
Made in Japan stamped on verso.
Reference: H43.4 and cat...

This is an antique Japanese 3 section Isho Biraki Tansu (kimono storage chest with hinged doors) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Top section has a split level shelf behind the sliding doors with three small side by side drawers below the doors. Three removable kimono storage shelves hide behind the hinged doors on the center section while the bottom section has large spacious drawers. There are inset exposed side handles on the bottom and center sections that se...

A Japanese ranma (transom) with a Hinoki (Cypress) frame and an Akita Sugi (Akita Cryptomeria) wood hand carved bamboo and plum blossom theme in a highly detailed three dimensional relief. Most likely mounted in a wealthy Japanese home or a fancy Ryokan (country inn). Its main theme is a majestic Plum Blossom tree (known as Bai) accented with Bamboo (Chiku). The ranma was often mounted above the Fusuma sliding doors between rooms to allow the air to circulate freely. This allowed each room...

Chinese antique celadon vase, carved with flowers and scrolling leaves. Lovely traditional celadon color glaze. Later addition of decorative silver overlay around mouth and shoulders and also a silver ring around the foot of the vase.

Age: Republic period (with early 20th century silver work)

Dimensions: 5 1/2" high x 3" wide diameter