This is a vintage red Shino (aka-shino yaki) stoneware teapot from Japan. Shino stoneware, still made today, is produced in small villages scattered high in the mountainous region of Mino. The Shino yaki tradition began some time in the 1500s.
This pot has a swiftly and artistically drawn "picture" done in red, using the local iron/magnesium "oni-ita" clay as an underglaze. The picture seems to be p ...click for details
This is a lovely young woman’s lavender-colored formal, long-sleeved kimono (furisode in Japanese) made of very fine silk crepe (chirimen). It is decorated with a motif of hexagonal-shaped shell game boxes (kaioke in Japanese) which are associated with Japan’s imperial Heian court (8th-11th century). The boxes are set among a myriad of flowers and plants–chrysanthemums, peonies, vines, flowering paulownia, orchids, camellias, and more. ...click for details
This large copper bell once hung from the eaves of a Shinto shrine in Japan. Before beginning to pray, visitors would pull down on the cord to call the "kami" (god-sprits). Clapping their hands twice, they would then pray.
When rung, this bell makes a very wonderful hollow sound. It has a charming, all-over greenish patina. Hard to date, but patins suggest significant age. See my pics of Hanazono shrine in Shi ...click for details
