An antique Japanese all Kiri (Paulownia) wood Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) with original hand forged iron hardware. Beautiful natural wood grain with a three dimensional texture. Side handles on both sections used for carrying from place to place...

An antique Japanese Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the stylized Mokko handles. Beautiful Japanese joinery including straight dovetail joints reinforced with hardened wood nails. Hinged door (often called the Theive's door) behind which lies two small drawers that held valuables...

An antique Japanese Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made from Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware with full moon lock plates and curved Kakute handles. Side carrying handles features the rare locking pins used to connect the two sections together. Beautiful Japanese straight dovetail joinery is a testament to the expert craftsmanship used in making this chest...

An antique Japanese large Jizai (hearth hook) used above an Irori (fire hearth) and hung beneath the house rafter to support a rope and hook or a Jizai Kagi (adjustable hook) to hold a kettle or large teapot above the burning charcoal. Carved from one solid piece of Keyaki (Zelkova) wood, this sculpture epitomizes the true feeling of the Japanese word Mingei (folk art)...

Ohara Koson
Two songbirds on a cherry tree
Size: Approximately 17 x 12 cm. 6.625 x 4.625 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Koson signature and seal at right.
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 435).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: A few foxing spots. Slight wave in paper around original publisher's label at back.
An early and rarely seen design not found in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).

A sitting lady in Heian era court dress and hair, clutching a giant golden matsudake mushroom. She wears a bright red hakama and light blue kimono. The shape of the mushroom has a close resemblance to a penis and the sculpture definitely has an erotic meaning.

Hand modeled, soft hollow earthenware, painted in cold-applied colors and gold.

Japan, 1960s or earlier.

H 5 in.

Colors somewhat smudged and chafed; frittings at the bottom edge...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) in a rare two section design made of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware with full moon style locking plates and Warabite handles. Two sliding doors open to a storage area where merchant books and business records were kept. Recessed side handles on the tops of each section.

Merchant chests provided two important key elements for the store owner...

An antique Japanese Kyoto Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest) in 2 sections made of Keyaki (Zelkova), Hinoki (Cypress), Kaki (Persimmon) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original bronze hardware with burled Keyaki door panels and drawer fronts. Unique and natural thunder bolt-like grain pattern on the Hinoki wood frame. Side horizontal supports add strength and aesthetic beauty to the tansu...

A rare an high quality Japanese Matsumoto Choba Tansu (merchant chest from the Matsumoto region of Japan) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware with full moon style lock plates and Warabite handles. Recessed side handles lift open to accommodate a wood pole through each handle allowing two persons to carry the tansu from place to place...

An antique Japanese Ko Tansu (personal storage chest) made of Kiri (Paulownia) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware with auspicious Paulownia leaf lock plates and Warabite handles. The original finish was done in a wiped Urushi lacquer technique for both the drawer fronts and the tansu body.

It was used in a wealthy Japanese home to store personal effects, ephemera, writing tools, and other miscellaneous sundries...

Ohara Koson
Three small birds on a twig of a red maple
Size: Approximately 17.5 x 12.5 cm. 6.75 x 4.875 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Koson signature and seal at lower left.
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 440).
Reference: AK.18 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Slight wave in paper around original publisher's label at back.
An early and rarely seen design.

This Toba-e E-maki appears to be a 19th century Gi-ga follower of the later 18th to early 19th century Osaka "Manga-ka" Nichosai (Matsudaira Heisaburo). His humorous images of Hell were quite popular, known as Kakuyu painting.　Overall the genre has many names, Gi-ga being all encompassing, Toba-e being descriptive of this particular style, and Kakuyu-fu being the style of Nichosai. It ends with a simple stamp which reads Fish (Gyo/Sakana). It is 11 by 174 inches (28 x 442 cm)...

Silver damask iron box, gold details...

Japanese kakiemon dishes late 17 ° circa 1700. Porcelain enamelled with deer. D:18 cm. In a perfect state. Very rare set of 8 to the same model. For sale individually or by several the price is for one.

Han-gappa (short jacket) made of kuzdu-fu whose wefts are kudzu fiber and warps are cotton. Kudzu is one kind of leguminous plant. The collar is made of imported wool. Han-gappa made of kudzu-fu was worn in summer and other ones with lining was for winter. The design of the straps show it was made after Tenpo era (1830∼1844）in Edo period, according to the "Kinsei Fuzoku-shi" Buttons are made of the horn of the water buffalo. Kudzu-fu has been produced mainly in Kakegawa in Shizuoka prefectur...

Okame standing in blue over-kimono with a sweet and cheerful facial expression. Her garment falls open a little, showing a red colored underkimono or liner, indicating her profession. Cradled in her arms is a large matsudake mushroom. The shape of the mushroom has a close resemblance to a penis and the sculpture definitely has an erotic meaning.

Soft hollow cast earthenware or plaster, painted in vibrant cold-applied colors and sprinkled gold flakes.

Japan, 1960s or earlier.

...

Kozuka in sentoku inlaid with silver and gold butterflies. Length 95mm. Edo period.