This is a very lovely half-width (han-haba) silk obi with a brocade-woven Persian-style roundel design. There is a dragon inside the roundel. Between the roundels is a floral design. The ground color is black and the roundel design is primarily red, with some yellow in the florals. The silk is stiff; not shiny.
Measurements: 134 in. (340.4 cm) long; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm) wide ...click for details
This is a very special formal tomesode kimono decorated with various famous views of Kyoto, all beautifully handpainted in the rice-paste resist "yuzen" technique. Depicted is the Golden Pavilion, Kiyomizu-dera, Toji Temple's four-storey pagoda, Higashiyama, etc.--all iconic sites from Japan's cultural capital. The colors are all subdued, leading me to believe that all was done with natural pigment/plant dyes (not w/chemicals). Gold and silver paint is generously applied throug ...click for details
This is a lovely, large, slightly vintage Japanese pot, made of a high kaolin content stoneware (white clay body). It has a thick creamy underglaze, on top of which is a colored glaze which was applied randomly in sections (around the entire pot) and allowed to drip. When fired, these glaze sections developed varying colors, from an iron/rust brown, to indigo blue, to celadon green. They have a transluscent look. Very wonderful. ...click for details
This is a very charming contemporary Japanese porcelain plate, made as a decorative item for display. It was made in one of the Kutani kilns, as indicated by the inscription on the box (read below). It has a matt brown glaze on the top surface, with nine white circles--eight smaller circles around one larger circle in the middle. Each of the circles has a wild plant/herb, handpainted in the characteristic Kutani polychrome glaze style--blue, purple, red, and yellow. The plant in the middle circl ...click for details
This kimono is made of a special type of silk called "kihachijo" --the "ki" means yellow, and hachijo (-jima) refers to the island in which this specialized silk fabric is made. Hachijo-jima is a small island 290 kilometers from Tokyo, out in the Pacific (part of Izu island chain). For approx. 800 years, the residents of this island have been producing silk (since the Heian period!).
This container, in the shape of a Japanese sweet bun filled with bean jam (manju), is named after the sweets it was made to hold. It is called a "manju-bitsu" (literally, bean-sweets chest). In Kyoto, from where this container came, bean jam sweets used to be (in eras past) presented to guests at large gatherings in a container such as this one. It is made of a solid carved-out piece of keyaki wood (zelkova) and lacquered red over black on the inside, and black on the outside. Lid fits ...click for details
This is a very nice Japanese footed tray, made of wood and covered with a brilliant cinnabar red lacquer. Great as a tray for tea pot/cups or for storing things on the desk, etc. Very useful item with lots of charm. Approx. 30-60 years old.
Measurements: 3.5 in. (8.8 cm) high; 8.75 in. (22.3 cm) wide Weight (in box w/packing material; for sh ...click for details
This is a very special raspberry red silk kimono made with handspun silk that was shibori tie-dyed (hand-tied). It has a design of ivy leaves with a somewhat random, all-over crackled ground motif.
Three different shibori tie-dye techniques were used: (1)the ground was done with "resist-wrapped spider-web" (kantera-maki kumo shibori); (2) the ivy leaf outline was done with stitching (ori-nui); (3) and the v ...click for details
This is a rare man's formal silk kimono, called a "noshime." It is a classical Japanese costume specially worn under a kamishimo ensemble (kataginu vest and hakama pants). Made of a high-quality habutae satin silk, and lined with a dark indigo-dyed silk. The plaid pattern, placed around the mid-section of the garment, is a special characteristic of noshime kimono. The sleeves are attached to the body of the garment; the sleeve openings are the same as for kimono. It has 3 large cre ...click for details
