A square Chinese cloisonne enamel gau box with four arched apertures and gold gilt strap loops for personal carrying. Richly decorated on a yellow ground with designs of formal lotus and foliage, the top side panel has a dark blue fylfot. The back panel, with the large red Shou-type character, slides up to open. Made for the Tibetan market, this dates early to mid 19th century, but could possibly be late 18th. Measures 3.35 inches high, 3" across, 1" deep.

Hotei, one of the seven lucky gods. Painted with ink on paper. Signed and sealed. It is accompanied by an inscripton authenticating the painting that it is painted by Okamoto Hansuke. It is attributed to Okamoto Hansuke(1575-1657).

Okamoto Hansuke(1575-1657) was a military tactician and calligrapher of the early Edo period. His original surname was Ishigami, and he later inherited the Okamoto clan. He is well known by his given name, Nobunari, and his common name, Hansuke...

A set of 5 rare Dutch glass cups imported to Japan in the Edo period and formerly owned by the Confucian scholar Nakai Riken (1732-1817). They are enclosed in a custom made double sided wooden box with drop in doors titled on the side Yoi-O-Gozui (Five fortuitous ways to be drunken) with a long verse carved into each door. Of course, the meaning of the title goes much deeper, and the Gozui is also a Confucian concept...

Bronze okimono depicting the study of a powerful tiger in a furtive position. The animal is represented with its legs bent, its tail curled upwards and its body in a lowered position just before launching the attack. The streaks of the fur, typical of the animal, are depicted in a masterful way and highlighted with a marked engraving. This okimono is signed Hideyoshi 秀義 under the belly. Origin: Japan Period: Meiji second half of the 19th century. Dimensions: 10 x 36 x 9 cm....

Amazing boro made of hand-spun and vegetable indigo dye cotton fragments. It used to be the lining of yogi, which is one kind of futon, in the shape of kimono. It is from the Japan Sea side district in Kansai, such as Fukui or Kyoto. It is partly sewn with hemp yarn. Late 19th to early 20th century. W:95cm, L:165cm

Late Edo (1603-1868) Period Shino Chawan with all highlights of the Japanese aesthetics of wabi sabi. It is in perfect antique condition and comes with its original wooden box, a cloth bag (shifuku) and the attestation of a tea master inside.

Shino-ware dates to the Momoyama period when potters were attempting to recreate white porcelain-wares that were being imported from China at the time. Originally they were made in single-chamber anagama style kilns set into the hillsides...

A covered container made as an incense burner by Koyama Kiyoko slabbed and cored from Shigaraki clay and covered in glassy green motlen ash enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 13.5 cm (5-1/2 inches) diameter, roughly the same height and in excellent condition.
Koyama Kiyoko was born in Sasebo, Nagasaki in 1936. Following the second world war the family moved to Shiga prefecture, eventually settling in the pottery village of Shigaraki...

Kano School painting depicted Inkwash landscape/Suiboku Sansui. Painted with ink on paper. Signed Naonobu and sealed. It is attributed to Kano Naonobu.

Kanō Naonobu (1607–1650) was a Japanese painter of the Kanō school of painting during the early Edo period...

A radical Bizen Mizusashi with two lacquered wooden lids enclosed in a black lacquered wooden box with gold lacquer writing titled Samidare which is in turn enclosed in a kiri-wood storage box by the same title compartmentalized to allow the lids to be stored safely. Samidare is a poetic reading for Rain of the Fifth Month (June in the traditional calendar). It has a seal of overlapping rings impressed into the earth of the base, and dates from the Edo period...

A crumpled news print from the New York Times dated 82-5 by pioneering Ceramic Sculpture Icon Mishima Kimiyo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 25 x 14 x 13.5 cm (10 x 5-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Mishima Kimiyo was born in Osaka in 1932, and began her artistic career as a painter in the early 1960s. She started making collages with newspapers, discarded waste papers from printing companies, and old movie posters...

An elongated bowl playfully decorated in vivid color by Matsuda Yuriko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Zukini Nagabachi. It is 49 x 16 x 7.5 cm (19-1/2 x 6 x 3 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Matsuda Yuriko is an avid exhibitor; it is a wonder she has time to do any work at all. Both within Japan (Nihon Togei Ten, Gendai Togei Ten etc.) and without she has an impressive list of exhibitions in a host of countries...

Shoda Koho
Moonlit Sea
From the Hasegawa Night Scenes series.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 9.75 x 7 inches.
Date: 1910-1938.
Publisher: Hasegawa/Nishinomiya Yosaku.
An early marginless edition as originally issued.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Two thin surface scratches - lower left and top. Top back corners have paper residue. Two small surface marks in water near right horizon.

Urushi sakazuki (sake cup) made of wood and painted with black urushi. It has hand-painted sculp with red urushi which is for a charm against evil spirits and used in a temple or a shrine. It is from Akita prefecture in Tohoku. Late Edo period (The first half of the 19th century). In good condition. H:3.5cm, Diameter:10.3cm

A polished gypsum sculpture reminiscent of the matte works of Nigoshide ceramics from her home prefecture by Sugano Chi enclosed in a swooden box titled Akerakan and featured in the book Sugano Chii (published 1997). It is 16 x 14.5 x 16 cm (6-1/4 x 4-3/4 x 6 inches) and is in excellent condition...

This is a beautiful complex wire and wireless Japanese cloisonne vase. Though it is not signed, it was made by Gonda Hirosuke during the Meiji Era, circa 1910. All pieces like this we ever seen signed have been signed Gonda. Very few of these wireless fish vases were made by Gonda. The vase is in excellent condition and has silver rims. It was created before Japan began stamping rims with the "jun gin' silver mark in the early 1900's. It stands 7 inches tall and is 7 inches wide.

DOROMENKO

Primitive Japanese earthen toy for children called 'Doromenko' (lit. 'Mud face') including rare motif like ghost, fox, fish, etc., 19th century, approx. 3-3.5 cm (1.18-1.37in)...

Important 'Omizutori' festival lacquer plate from the late Meiji Period. Omizutori (お水取り), or the annual, sacred water-drawing festival, is a Japanese Buddhist festival that takes place in the Nigatsu-dō of Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan. This ceremony is to cleanse the people of their sins as well as to usher in the spring of the new year. Once the Omizutori is completed, the cherry blossoms have started blooming and spring has arrived. Eleven priests, who are called Rengyoshu, are appointed i...

Burgeoning grapes in vivid gold decorate this pure white bowl by Ono Hakuko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hakuji Kinrande Chawan. It is 13.3 cm (over 5 inches) diameter, 7.2 cm (3 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
From Aichi prefecture, Ono Hakuko was trained by her father initially in the ceramic arts. However, she was most strongly influenced by the great experimentive artist Kato Hajime (1901-1968) and his work with gold. This affected her own style deeply, a...