A beautiful set of 6 Antique JAPANESE SIGNED Wooden Stack Boxes that fit perfectly into one another! They show the exquisite natural lines of the wood and were finished with transparent lacquer varnish. Nice color of the wood, like mahagony. Overall in good condition, with very minor inconsequential small marks of age/use. Size: A total of 6 boxes, the largest: length 15" x depth 12 1/2" x height 5". The smallest box measures: length 10" x depth 7" x height 3 3/4"

Kawase Hasui
Tite: Namakiri, Shima
Date: 1942
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Publisher's 6mm seal lower left. A lifetime edition printed 1946-57.
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Size: Oban. 15.375 x 10.25 inches.
Reference Hotei #463.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Wow, a jaw-dropping bowl in igneous black like some volcanic expulsion by Kim Hono enclosed in the original signed wooden box. So impressed was even the artist with this piece that he has drawn an image of the bowl up the side of the box and over onto the lid. It is 11.5 x 13 x 10 cm 4-1/2 x 5 x 4 inches) and in excellent condition...

A beautiful half orb in shimmering silver with matte Caribbean blue by Morino Taimei enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ginsai Hai. It is 6.5 cm (2-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Morino Taimei was born in Kyoto in 1934, and was first accepted into the Nitten National Exhibition at a relatively young age in 1957 (a year before graduating the Kyoto Municipal University of Fine Art!)...

Namiamidabutsu sho (Praise to the name of Amiddha Buddha) is scrawled in faint verse down the upper right, while on the left is a warning, kono tori, minasama goyojin goyojin (all those on this path, be wary be wary…) The two scripts are separated by a grave marker at the base of which lies a skull and scattered bones among the unkempt dried grasses. A very unusual seal in the shape of a Buddhist ewer hugs the right edge. Early to mid Edo period in the style of Hakuin Eikaku (1686-1768)...

Kawase Hasui
Yakumo (Yagumo) Bridge at Nagata Shrine, Kobe
Series: Collection of Scenic Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1934. A lifetime edition produced between 1946-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo...

An absolute classic natural ash glazed sake bottle by the reclusive potter Osako Mikio enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Tokkuri. Most of the surface is covered in ash, tremulous tears of liquefied ash weeping over the charred clay. It is 14 cm tall and in excellent condition...

Height: 18 cm (7.3 in)
Width: 8.7 cm (3.5 in)

Fine Japanese porcelain vase; features underglaze blue floral work with a scrolled floral border above the base; hanging lappets below the rim with two beast-head handles adjoining; good condition

A small bottle with ash draped from the shoulder like a traditional priest robe by Takeuchi Kimiaki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ko-tsubo. It is 10.5 cm (4 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Takeuchi Kimiaki (1948– 2011) was born in Tokoname and started learning wheel throwing when he was a middle school student. He met his mentor Ezaki Issei at the Tokoname Ceramic School when he was 16 years old...

A horrifying image of a ghostly apparition accompanied by a Buddhist verse engraved into this long bamboo incense container by Ishii Matetsu. It is expertly crafted. The verse reads:
Katsu!
Dokusei Dokushi Dokko Dokurai
The literal translation sounds quite cold, but in Buddhist teaching it means: We enter the world alone; we depart it alone. Do not depend upon others for your happiness, rely upon yourself and live your life in your way to the fullest...

Earthen-toned glaze covers the fissured surface of this unusual small vase by Sugitani Keizo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is roughly 6 inches (15.5 cm) diameter and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this summer.
Sugitani Keizo was born in Osaka in 1959. In 1982 he graduated the Ceramic Art Institute of the Tekisui Museum of Art...

Clay doll figurine of a standing Shiba puppy dog, dressed up with a multi-layered collar with bells.

Very soft clay modeled in a mold and fired at low heat. Painted with gofun (ground eggshell producing the white color), natural/mineral pigments and gold, applied after the figure has cooled...

A sculpted large blue chawan buy Sugitani Keizo enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 13.5 x 14 x 10 cm and in excellent condition, directly from the artist this summer.
Sugitani Keizo was born in Osaka in 1959. In 1982 he graduated the Ceramic Art Institute of the Tekisui Museum of Art. He has selected for a number of group exhibitions including the International Ceramics Competition Mino and the Asahi Art exhibition, where he has been awarded...

Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)
Chinese Matriarch, Soochow
Date: 1934.
Sheet size: 17.625 x 13.625 inches. Image size: 13.25 x 11.75 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Signed and titled in pencil by the artist.
Medium: Colored etching.
Provenance: Henry McBride collection.
Condition: Upper right corner margin crease...

A flash of gold blazes on the raw earth side of this masterpiece tea bowl by Kato Kiyoyuki enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hai-yu Chawan. Green ash runs down opposite the iridescent flash of gold...

Japanese Oribe Seto Ware Andon-Zara Dish - Edo Period

This stoneware dish is an andon-zara (or abura-zara), an oil lamp dish. It was made in the early 19th (or possibly late 18th) century, during the Edo period (1615 - 1868). It is heavily-potted and has a delightful slight warp to it. It is coated in a crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze iron-brown, the pattern featuring a stylised flower, two interlocking circles above what may be a fence. To the top right is an area of green glaze....

Japanese Oribe Seto Ware Andon-Zara Dish - Edo Period

This stoneware dish is an andon-zara (or abura-zara), an oil lamp dish. It was made in the early 19th (or possibly late 18th) century, during the Edo period (1615 - 1868). It is particularly heavily-potted and has a flat, slightly concave base. It is coated in a crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze iron-brown, the pattern featuring three stylised flowers above what may be a fence. To the top right is an area of green glaze. On the f...

Dark brown patina bronze figure of a standing kappa with its right leg leaning on a cucumber. The figure is put on four-legged rattan-like bronze stand.

The kappa (河童) is a aquatic creature taken from Japanese folklore having the appearance of an anthropomorphic turtle.
His skull is either slightly hollowed out to accommodate water, from which it derives its power, or hidden with a water lily leaf hiding this sag. Naturally polite, it is advisable to bow to him in order th...