Rare and authentic 19th century Edo period Japanese woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) titled “Susaki, New Year’s Sunrise after Snow” from the earliest known series of “Famous Views of the Eastern Capital” (Toto Meisho) dated 1831-1832. This image is considered to be the masterpiece of the ten-print set. Signed “Ichiyusai Hiroshige” at the upper right. The series and image titles are within the image at the upper right...

A life-size feminine image of a toilet slipper by Satonaka Hideto in light colored clay covered with Irabo glaze enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Sakuhin and dating circa 1975. It is just over 9 inches (23.5 cm) long and in excellent condition...

A fabulous large Mingei Tokkuri from the Satsuma region in the shape of an eggplant, glazed in black with crystalline blue about the neck over iron rich glazed clay. Likely from the Hirasa kilns, one of the great Satsuma production centers on the southern Island of Kyushu, 18th to early 19th century. It is 24 cm (10 inches) tall and in overall excellent condition, enclosed in a kiri-wood collectors’ box...

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...

Scratches of ink form a precipitous landscape of jagged mountains on the paper surface of this scroll performed by Fujii Tatsukichi enclosed in a wooden box titled: Painted by the elder Tatsu, One Scroll, Mountain, Annotated by Eichi. It is framed in a silk border terminating in black lacquered rollers. It is 13-1/2 x 59 inches (34 x 149 cm) and is in excellent condition.
Kato Eichi (1899-1987) was a potter from Seto who trained under Tatsukichi...

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Asakusa Kinryusan, 1938
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.75 x 11.25 inches.
Publisher: Doi Hangaten. Doi watermark.
Carver: Harada. Printer: Yokoi.
This seal combination indicates an early post-war edition.
Reference: Koitsu catalog TK-DH-51.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Left margin has two tears that do not impinge on image.

An antique Japanese merchant desk made of Keyaki burl (Zelkova), Honoki (Magnolia), and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Elegant two leg support balancing 5 drawers. Bronze metal pulls and through mortise and tenon joinery brings this well designed functional chest together...

An antique Japanese 2 section Nihon Matsu Tansu made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Natural Urushi lacquer finish and hand made iron fittings. Accented with butterfly and plum blossom Atari handle backstops. Lock plates feature the Sho Chiku Bai (three felicitous friends of winter) motif and two side by side Chrysanthemum flowers ...

An antique Japanese Kansai 2 section tall Todana Tansu made of solid Keyaki (Zelkova) and Hinoki (Cypress) woods. Hand made iron fittings and hardened wooden nail and iron nail construction. Traditional Japanese joinery throughout this lovey chest. Shunkei style lacquer reveals the beautiful grain pattern which evokes visual movement. Side wood supports typical of Kansai region tansu.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 66" High x 41 3/4" Wide x 23 3/4" Deep

Heavily influenced by Koryo potting styles and techniques, the Tobei lineage has been crafting exceptional tea-ware implements for 13 generations. The piece shown here was made by the 12th generation (Tahara) and, due to its excellent character, was endorsed by the 15th tea master of the Urasenke School of Tea, Hōunsai. The natural ash glaze gradates from a glossy lavender towards the top to a light tan nearer the bottom...

An antique Japanese Buddhist temple ranma (transom) carved from Hinoki (Cypress) wood featuring symbols of Dharmachakra. Dharmachakra sometimes symbolizes Gautama Buddha himself. There are three wheels of life each framed with 8 spokes, representing the noble eightfold path with lotus blossoms in the center . Accentuated by kumo karakusa (arabesque clouds). Minor losses.

Age: Late Edo Period circa 1850s

Dimensions: 15 1/4" High x 60 3/4" Wide x 2 1/4" Deep

Decidedly masculine in character with straight sculpted edges, a rich palette of color, and a calm steadiness in the hand; this tea bowl was crafted by one of Japan’s great masters, a Mashiko potter by the name of Takauchi Shugo.

A native of Tokyo, Takauchi (b...

Not so often in the world of Japanese tea-ware do you come across something so exquisitely novel that it resists categorization in terms traditional styles...

Kawase Hasui
Snow at Heian Shrine Kyoto
Date: 1948
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe 6mm seal at lower right, indicating a first state produced between 1946-1957.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.75 x 10.5 inches.
Reference: Hotei #510.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Top margin has two original drying pinholes.

An unusual Arita saucer dish decorated with a three colour pattern of a pair of gnarled prunus , Japanese apricot trees incorporating four low relief Prunus flowers, umehana, approximately 50% larger than the painted flowers, and a central motif of a Flowering Peony branch. The reverse decorated with three further flowering prunus branches. A single underglaze blue circle to the interior of the footring and a set of four spur marks in a "Y" shaped formation...

Dark glaze covers this beautifully crafted Koro from Kawai Kanjiro dating circa 1936 enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 11.5 x 9 x 8.5 cm (4-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches) excluding the lid and is in excellent condition. The lid is of exotic hardwood with an agate finial, and is a later addition (Kanjiro did not make lids for his koro). For similar examples see the Katsukawa collection published in the biblical tome by the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art...

An antique Japanese 2 section Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood with hand made iron fittings...

An antique Japanese Niigata 2 section Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) with hand made iron fittings. The lock plates feature the Sho Chiku Bai motif (Pine, Bamboo, Plum Blossom known as the 3 felicitous friends of winter) with the longevity symbols of the turtles and crane. Each drawer has Kakute handle pulls and the hinged door hides 3 small drawers.

The front of the chest is made of natural Kirinoki while the tansu body was designed using a dark red wiped lacquer technique. Cons...