This woman's kimono has a kasuri tie-dyed design of squares and circles. It is made of a nubby handspun, natural/plant-dyed raw silk (tsumugi); done in the Murayama Oshima tsumugi style. The sleeves are elegantly long (25.5 inches!). The lining is made of an undyed, nubby handspun silk (upper) and a crepe silk (lower) that was recycled from a tomesode kimono--the black ground dye and colored yuzen-dyed areas have been bleached, leaving a pinkish color. The yuzen design appears in silhouette. ...click for details
This woman's kimono has a kasuri tie-dyed design of crossed arrow feathers (yabane). It is made of a nubby handspun, natural/plant-dyed silk; done in the Murayama Oshima tsumugi style. The sleeves are elegantly long (26 inches!). The lining is made of cotton (upper) and silk (lower).
In excellent condition. Only very slight areas of discoloration (front lower panel). No other damage. Clean throughout. ...click for details
This is a charming young boy's silk padded kimono--the type worn everyday in the early 20th century. It has a kasuri tie-dyed, vertical stripe pattern (warp ikat) in soft indigo blue, brown, and undyed white. Made of a smooth tsumugi raw silk fabric and dyed with plants/natural materials. The blue was likely obtained from plant indigo, while the brown could have been obtained from a variety of plant materials. The lining is made of a super-nubby handspun raw silk. ...click for details
Here are two antique rice cracker (sembei) presses, made of heavy hand-tooled iron. Each one has a design that transfers to the cracker when used. One of the presses (round one) has a chrysanthemum and water design; the other (rectangular one) has an inscription (dai-uchi), likely the name of the company. The other side of this press has an offering stand--the type used in Shinto-related celebrations, such as weddings. < ...click for details
This is a kimono made of five different pieces of cotton--indigo kasuri tie-dyed--that have been sewn together into panels, then constructed (as usual) into the kimono. Unlined.
In excellent condition. It appears to never have been worn--still very stiff; clean; unwashed.
This is a vintage Japanese kokeshi doll. The body is made of a solid piece of keyaki (paulownia) wood. The head, also keyaki, is attached w/a dowel. Has a very sweet face. Signed.
In excellent-good condition. Slight wear to varnish surface. Painted design intact throughout.
Measurements: Height: 10 in. (25.4 cm); Width: 5.5 in. (14 cm); Weig ...click for details
This charming vest is made of three different pieces of cotton--plain indigo-dyed solid blue cotton, an indigo-dyed, white-on-blue kasuri tie-dyed cotton, and an indigo white-and-red on blue kasuri tie-dyed cotton. Pieced together and then quilted (sashiko). It has undyed white cotton ties.
Measurements: 32 in. (81.3 cm) wide(along hem); 30 in. (76.2 cm) long; 17 in. wide (across bust) ...click for details
This is a very nice large, antique, sleeping comforter from the late 19th-early 20th century (pre-1930s). Called a "yogi," it is made in the shape of a kimono, but is much larger. Made of handspun cotton, it has a blue and white chrysanthemum motif done in the traditional rice paste-resist stencil-dyeing technique called "katazome." After the paste dried, the fabric was dipped repeatedly into an indigo dye bath, until the desired blue color was achieved. ...click for details
Being offered here is an unusual pair of carved plaques. One shows "Raijin" (thunder god) and the other "Fujin" (wind god), two Buddhist deities derived from ancient Indian Hinduism. Wonderfully depicted with lots of animation, they are done on zelkova (keyaki), a heavy, super-hard wood. Carving such detail into this wood could not have been done by anyone other than a highly skilled artisan. As well, the artisan had to be familiar with Buddhist iconography for these two dei ...click for details
This is a large, antique wooden shop sign from Japan, dating from the late 19th-early 20th century (approx. 80-100 years old). It once hung outside a shop (has holes for hooks along top surface). The name of the shop/product/company is carved and painted on both sides; the inscriptions are identical.
This "kuro-satsuma" (black Satsuma) wide-mouthed jar is characteristic of those made in Naeshirogawa, a pottery town located in southeastern Kyushu. Satsuma's pottery tradition began in the 16th century, and several distinctive kiln styles have developed over the centuries.
This pot, with its iron-rich, thick plum-black glaze, was used to store "ama-zake," a thick, milky-white sake served at New ...click for details
This traditional, large wooden sake flask received its name--"tsuno-dare," horned sake flask-- because the vertical protrusions reminded some of horns. It is made of zelkova wood, constructed like a barrel; the coopered pieces of wood fit snugly together. All is held together with thick strips of plied bamboo. It has a large, wooden plug. It is lacquered red and black.
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 large spouted sake flask (called kampin) made in one of the Onta (or Onda)kilns, located in a remote mountainous village in northern Kyushu. It clearly shows Korean influence in style, in its stippled pattern and in its shape. Dates from the late 19th-early 20th century.
This is a very nice, large sake jar (tokkuri). It is made of a light brown stoneware clay. It has a greenish-gray glaze (like a soft celadon green), with the rim being a darker green. The glaze is thick and smooth, with the irregular handbuilt texture of the clay coming through. It was made at one of the Matsushiro kilns, located in today's Nagano Prefecture (central Honshu). Founded in 1816, kilns in the pottery region of Matsushiro specialized in utilitarian ceramics, such as this large sa ...click for details
