Sparrow on Hortensia (Blue Hydrangea) (aka. A Songbird Among Hydrangea)
Size: Kotanzaku. Approximately 19.4 x 9.6 cm. 7.75 x 3.75 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 106).
Kono Bairei seal at lower left. Bairei died in 1895, which, curiously, was before Matsumoto was in business. Matsumoto has also issued this print with a proper Koson seal. Please see an example in our last photo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent...

Ohara Koson
A Bird on Mokuren (Matsumoto catalog name)
Size: Approximately 14.2 x 9.0 cm. 5.625 x 3.65 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Sealed "Yamagishi," which may be the carver Kazue Yamagishi (1891-1984).
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 423)
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Small wave in paper near orignal publisher's tag at back.
An early and rarely seen design...

Width: 5.5 cm (2.2 in)
Height: 5.5 cm (2.2 in)
Weight: 205 gm

Japanese Komai box; decorated with chrysanthemums and other florals; gilt interior; Fuji mark on the base; good condition

Japanese Meiji period well rendered Kutani porcelain figure of Kannon, decorated in polychrome enamel and gilt highlight. She sits holding a scroll in her left hand and her face is well modeled with a serene, downcast expression. A gold jeweled necklace hangs from her neck and she wears a white hooded robe permeated with tiny white raised moriage dots and decorated with green dragon roundels. Flat unglazed base. 10 1/2” high. Late 19th century. Heavily potted. Weighs 3 lbs...

Highly unusual ovoid flower vase with an art deco decoration of four pairs of Native Americans standing face to face in war dress. Above and below decorative bands of repeating plant motives. Inside cream colored glaze.

Light colored stoneware with pastel colored sgrafitto clay inly. Excellent craftsmanship. Kyoto ware.

Signed on the bottom Gyozan

Japan, late Meiji/Taisho era, 1910s-1920s

H ca 9.25 inches

The Gyozan studio and kiln were in Kyoto...

The purity and perfection of this takes your breath away. It is a gorgeous piece by Hattori Tatsuya and comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ginsai Wan. The bowl is 12 x 13.5 x 8 cm (4-1/2 x 5-1/4 x 3 inches) and is in perfect condition, from the artist late 2020. He is a master of silver/platinum/titanium glazes, and his forms, especially his tea pots, are very popular and generally sell out quickly...

Title: Rainbow hair. Silkscreen print. Year: 1973 Edition no 49 / 200 Picture size: L 56 x 38 cm; Frame size: 65 x 50 cm. Very good condition, fresh and vibrant colours! ***** Ay-O (b. 1931) is the artist name of Takao Iijima, born 1931 in in Ibaraki prefecture Ay-O has become famous in and outside of Japan as "Rainbow Man" for his serigraphs and etchings in strong rainbow colors, used in all kinds of shapes and with an abundance of creative imagery - sometimes with a subtle humour...

Japanese Meiji period cylindrical pawlonia (kiri) wood domaru (tree-trunk) hibachi with a relief design of flowering grasses in gold maki-e lacquer and shell inlay. A gold lacquered bird flies on the back. Original copper liner. Late 19th to early 20th century. 8” high x 11 1/2" wide. Very good overall condition with only minor losses to the shell inlay.

Height approximately 20.5 cm. This is glued between trumpet section and the vase body. There is added color to the connection line only, others are not there. Conditions as in the pictures. More pictures are available.

VOTIVE EMA

Set of four various 'Ema' (lit. 'Horse picture') as Japanese worshipper's wooden tablets, Showa period, early-mid 20th century. Large: approx...

Standing Jizo Bosatsu, the hands forming the gassho adoration mudra, sculpted in relief from a brown-hued sedimentary stone, possibly chert. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1700. Minor old loss, with traces of polychrome and overall soot patination.

Height: 19.5 cm
Width: 12.5 cm
Depth: 5 cm
Packaged weight: 2 kg

The gist of the script is Taoist, something to the effect of: This is my life, I am neither overtly talented nor gifted with genius, like a sail boat alone tossed among the waves I drink freely of sake untouched (unfettered) by others seen only from a distance. Ink on paper in a the rough silk border preferred by Literati artists with exquisite turned ivory rollers enclosed in a period wooden box (the rollers will be changed for something suitable if exporting)...

LACQUERER'S WHEEL

Wheel for lacquering used by Japanese lacquer craftsman as a handmade professional tool made of wood, iron, and *cloth (*coating the top plate, though looks like wood), from Aizu area, Showa period, mid 20th century, approx...

The Size of Bamboo Flower Vase Basket: 10 1/4" Wide x 7 7/8" Deep x 12 1/4" High, 26 cm x 20 cm x 31 cm. Nice unusual Japanese Bamboo Flower Vase Basket. The flower vase made with finely woven bamboo. The condition of Bamboo vase, excellent. There is one spot has crack as last photo making with red circled. It is dating from Meiji period. Please note there is no Otoshi (drop).

A little warmth on a cold winter day, lets have a look at cheerful works of Tokugawa Hiroshi. Here is a deep “Apple Shaped” tea bowl covered in lightly crackled Ki-Seto (Yellow Seto) glaze fired upside down so that the glaze coalesces at the rim into a thin bead of yellow glass. It is 12.5 cm (5 inches) diameter and comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ki-Seto Chawan with Shiori and Shifuku.
Tokugawa Hiroshi graduated the Gifu Prefetural Industrial High School in ...

105" long late Meiji to early Showa period Japanese ink and color on silk scrolled painting by Yagioka Shunzan (1879-1941) depicting figures on a boat in a landscape scene. A craggy cliff with pine outcroppings rises sharply above the emerging boat. Signed in black ink at the lower right and with the artist's red seal below. Early 20th century. Scroll: 105" x 28 7/8" (painting: 63" x 22 1/8"). Very good overall condition. The right top mounting section is slightly tattered on the right edge...

Japanese limited edition woodblock print by French artist Paul Jacoulet (1902-1960) titled "Birds of Paradise. Menado, Celebes" (Les Paradisiers Menado, Celebes) published December 25, 1937. This image is illustrated on page 53 (plate 46) of “The Prints of Paul Jacoulet” by Richard Miles, 1982. It is described on pages 98-99. The print is pencil-signed and bears the red tea jar seal at the lower right edge of the image. The seal of the carver and printer (Maeda/Honda) is at the lower lef...

Ohara Koson
Heron (Egret) on a Willow Tree
Size: Approximately 17 x 12 cm. 6.625 x 4.75 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Koson signature and seal at upper right.
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 437).
Reference: AK.12 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. A few marks in sky.
An early and rarely seen desig...