A collaboration piece between the famed poet/ nun of the late Edo period Rengetsu and her younger protege Tessai, this scroll depicts a frightened cricket making his way to the top of a stalk of grass on a windy day. Set in the fall season, the viewer can imagine a message of frailty, loneliness, and possibly the feeling of trepidation that accompanies the turning of the seasons towards the colder months...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of Buddha Amitābha also known simply as Amida Buddha. Here he stands with each foot on a lotus blossom, floating on swirling clouds against a black void as he descents. His hands are in vitarka mudra, also known as Raikō gesture of welcoming souls to Paradise (Jōdō or Sukhavati in Sanskrit). Amitābha (which means Infinite or Immeasurable light) is much loved for his gentle wisdom and his all accepting nature...

A fine example of Edo period Kano painting, this generously proportioned hanging scroll illustrates a late autumn scene from the Japanese countryside over 300 years ago. The poem on the scroll reads:

Solitary, with the color, of nothingness
A close to autumn, on a ring of mountaintops

The painter, Minenobu Kano (1662 - 1708), was greatly admired by the Ienobu Tokugawa shogunate who eventually promoted him to the position of inner-court artist...

Pair of folding screens with painted decoration on paper. The screens are made up of six leaves representing figures in a landscape decorated with pine trees and enhanced with gold leaf. On each of them is a cherry tree in bloom, indicating that the scene takes place in early spring.
On the first screen, several groups of figures, each holding a bunch of flowers in their hands, play and talk...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a mountain scene. A pagoda rises in the distance, behind it, a misty mountain range. In the foreground a small figure crosses a bridge. Signed by Kano Tsunenobu (1636-1713). Sumi ink on silk. Provenance Collection of Vlasheslav Batov, Illinois

Age: Edo Period (circa late 1600's to early 1700's)

Dimensions: Total: 51 1/4" high x 29 3/4" wide (32 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 15 3/4" high x 25 1/2" wide.

Antique Japanese Zenga scroll painting of a scholar's cane or staff. Elongated vertical composition with calligraphy. Painted in sumi ink on paper...

Antique Japanese screen painting in 6 panels. Painted to resemble a samurai encampment space divider. The simple graphics of the curtain-like camp divider are painted in black and white and displays the kamon (crest) of the Takiyama Family. Narrow slits between the white and black sections of cloth were for the wind to pass through, preventing the curtain from becoming a sail. Thick striped rope securely ties the curtain to tall stakes in the ground...

A small cottage perched on the edge of a tranquil lake, fishermen heading out in the morning chill to secure their daily catch. This pastoral scene from the Japanese countryside was captured over 300 years ago by painter, poet, and Buddhist monk Hyakusetsu Genyō (poet) and Kuge Yaou (painter) a monk of the Tenryu-ji sect.

Dharma heir to Chinese monk Gaoquan Xingdun, Hyakusetsu Genyō began his spiritual practice in the Rinzai sect under his teacher Hyakuju...

Antique Japanese 2-panel byobu screen. Covered with small squares of pale gold leaf. That this is antique is told by the size and quality of the gold leaf squares.

Dimensions: 35 1/4" high x 51 1/2" long

This tranquil winter scene showing a group of birds taking shelter in the snowy boughs of a tree was done by well-known Edo painter, poet, and tea ceremony devotee—Baiitsu Yamamoto.

A native of Nagoya, a bustling Japanese center for shipping and trade in Late Edo, Baiitsu was heavily influenced by works of Chinese art, especially the naturalistic landscapes that made their way into Japan through this port city...

Japanese screen painting in two panels of butterflies and moths. The etherial quality of the fluttering creatures is conveyed by delicately painted details and movement. Painted in mineral colors on silk. Each rectangular silk composition has been mounted on a ground of gold leaf on paper. Seal mark on the left hand panel: Watanabe Kiyoshi.

Watanabe Kiyoshi (1778-1861) was born into a family specializing in embroidery in Nagoya...

Antique 2-panels screen painting from the interior of a wealthy home in Momoyama Period Japan. Each of these two rectangular shaped panels is painted with a fan shaped reserve. The fan on the left panel is painted with a branch of blossoming white flowers, possibly dogwood and is shadowed by another blue and gold fan shaped reserve. The fan on the right panel is painted in ink with a bird on a branch and shadowed with a green and gold fan...

"Yacchimatta!" the lost soul seems to say as he slaps himself on the head, a sake cup and Tokkuri wine flask in front of him. Ink on dark paper with patterned dark cloth boarder with wide gray piping and featuring bone rollers...

Japanese scrolled painting on silk by Kikuchi Yosai (1788-1878), also known as Kikuchi Takeyasu, depicting the sun rising behind Mount Horai. Signed in black ink at the lower left and with the artist's red Takeyasu seal below. A symbol for Japan, Mount Horai (Treasure Mountain) is a lofty mountain covered in pine, prunus, and bamboo on a mythical island of immortals in a distant sea. In the foreground swimming toward the rocky shore, a pair of tortoises whose backs are covered in seaweed, sym...

A kakemono presenting an example of calligraphy by Shunsui Rai, 1743 ~ 1813. Shunsui was a Confucian scholar of some influence in the Hiroshima district and an historian. He is the father of Sanyo Rai, 1781~1832, who also became a notable calligrapher and a painter and scholar.

Overall the dimensions are 170cm x 36cm. The picture size is 91cm x 25cm. The scroll ends are rosewood. Good condition overall with just minor horizontal creases noted.

Please study the photog...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a hawk standing on the branch of an oak tree. The hawk is detailed with great attention to every feather. Painted in sumi ink and light colors on paper. Signed Shunkei with seal, possibly Mori Shunkei (1775-1841).

Edo Period (Late 18th - Early 19th century)

Dimensions: Total 79" high x 27 1/4" wide (29 1/4" wide including ends) Art: 51 1/2" high x 21 1/2" wide

This is a wonderfully preserved Japanese Edo Period (Late 18th / Early 19th centuries) Tosa School Monogatari-e (painted subjects depicting scenes from the life at the Imperial Court in Kyoto) Six-panel. Gold-leaf Folding Silk Screen Painting. It shows twelve scenes from chapters of the novel 'The Tale of Genji', set in two sections per screen. It measures 110 inches wide and 48 inches tall. The inside panels are 18 inches and the two outer panels are 19 inches wide. Based on the age of the ...

Antique Japanese Scroll Triptych, signed Sumiyoshi Hirosada (1793-1862) , 7th head of the Sumiyoshi line of painters. Three paintings: One painting is of two men meeting on a mountain path, pines and blossoming plum trees dot the hillside and the rooftops of a fishing village can be seen emerging through the mist. Another scroll depicts a lady seated at her writing table by her pavilion window. Outside, the moon shines above pine covered hills. The third scroll shows a Tori gate and s...

Antique Japanese scrol painting of a landscape with boat. The water is very still and the moon is high over a mountain in the distance. A flock of geese swoops down from the sky on the right. On the far left, an outcropping of rocks partially obscures some rural houses. A willow tree drapes itself outward over the water. With signed tomobako. Signed Tan'yu and with the seal of his given name Moninobu. Certified by Eitoku, his grandfather. Kano Tan'yu (1602-1674) was one of the foremost...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a small bird, perching on the branch of a tall growth of flowers. Signed with red chop.

Size: 16" W 9 69" H (entire scroll) 10.25" W x 38" H (painting only)

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a horse, done in sumi ink, its legs kicked up into the air. Very disciplined calligraphy brush work is used, and may have been executed by a Zen Buddhist monk. This horse painting was possibly cut down from a larger screen and mounted as a scroll.

18th century Edo period (1603-1868)

Size: 17.5" W x 52" H (entire scroll) 14.25" W x 20.75" H

Here in Kyoto our gallery is located along the Kamo River in a district known as Shobu-en Machi, which roughly translates as “Iris Town.” As you can imagine, the scene depicted in this painting of irises and cranes is one that can be commonly witnessed in our neighborhood in the spring (May) when these flowers are in full bloom. Close inspection of the painting shows one crane amusing itself in the swirling eddies created by rocks on the river bed, while another lifts its head to admire the ...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a young woman with a younger girl , dressed in beautiful flowing kimono and standing below a cherry blossom branch. There are three chops altogether, one is of a very unusual shape of a vase. Beautiful calligraphy along the upper region with artist's signature below in corner. Tomobako is included.

18th century

Size: 61" H x 17" W (entire scroll) 33" H x 11.5" W (artwork only)

Antique Japanese framed floral painting, with silver and gold flake accent clouds, of grape clusters on vines and large leaves, with red chop, possibly by Ogata Korin (1658-1716), Rinpa School.

Size: (entire frame) 28.5" L x 25" H (artwork only) 18.75" L x 13.5" H

Antique Japanese scroll signed Rengetsu (1791-1875), with beautiful calligraphy poem, and small painted flying crane, painted in sumie, beneath. Grass writing calligraphy poem reads: Tsuki no , aki no tomoshi, saki no toki matsu hodo, shiru toki wa, hatsukari no shiru Along with The Autumn moon, Instead of waiting for its coming, The first geese Know already

Size: (entire scroll) 70" L x 12.5" W (artwork only) 38" L x 9.25" W

Antique Japanese Zen Buddhist calligraphy scroll painting, with three red chops. Meiji age (1868-1912)

Size: 70" L x 19.5" W (entire scroll) 53.5" L x 12.75" W (artwork only)

New Arrival

Japanese antique small and charming scroll painting and poem by Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875). The image is of a small hut with a thatched roof. The poem translates as follows:
春鳥 春寒み 榾火にねぶる 山賤の 夢おどろかす うぐひすの声

cold spring day, a worker naps, by an outdoor fire,
his dreams i...

Long a symbol of longevity, good luck, and support in many parts of Asia; in Japan the turtle has the added symbolism of being one of the cardinal protectors of Heian, the ancient capital city of Kyoto. This rendition of a turtle basking on a sunny riverbank was done by one of the most renowned and loved Waka poets of the 19th century, Ōtagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875).

Born into a Samurai family but soon after adopted by the Ōtagaki family, from the age of seven to sixteen Re...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a beautiful court lady with very long, flowing hair rolling up her screen door. To her right is a painting of cranes flying over seaside mountains and trees. In good condition. Circa 1800s Edo age (1615-1868) signed Totsugen Tanaka of the Tosa School. From Bay Area Estate. Size: (entire scroll) 63.5" H x 17" W (artwork only) 33.5" H x 9.75" W

A finely painted water colour , with gold leaf overlay, depicting a scene from the 11th Century classic "The Tale of Genji" written by noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. This item was made in Japan in the 19th Century during either the late Edo or the Meiji period (1868-1911). Condition: there is very minor "foxing" to the paper which probably predates the framing of this picture during the 1920s or 1930s. Frame: 32.5cm (12.75 inches) wide; 29cm (11.4 inches) high. Painting: ...

Based on a classical tale adapted into a popular Kabuki performance in late Edo, the story of the Fuji Musume or “Wisteria Maiden” is an often employed motif in Japanese art. In the story, the Wisteria Maiden is depicted in a painting holding a wisteria branch, until one day she becomes smitten with a young man passing by and steps out of the painting in an effort to capture his attention. Unfortunately, her attempts are futile. Her love goes unrequited, and she sorrowfully steps back into ...

A finely painted water colour , with gold leaf overlay, depicting a scene from the 11th Century classic "The Tale of Genji" written by noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. This item was made in Japan in the 19th Century during either the late Edo or the Meiji period (1868-1911). Condition: there are small marks on the paper and some losses to the gold leaf which predate the framing of this picture during the 1920s or 1930s. Frame: 32.5cm (12.75 inches) wide; 29cm (11.4 inches) high. ...

Antique Japanese 4-panel screen with delicate painted flowers over a gold leaf background. Clouds of gold flecks decorate the sky and the open valley. Unusual size for the long four panel.

Edo period (1615-1868) Dimensions: (entire screen) 100.5" L x 36" X (painting only) 94" L x 30" H

Antique Japanese two-panel gold leaf screen with elegant, simplistic landscape scenes in black, with calligraphy and artist's signature. Unusual small size, very charming. Edo Period (circa 1800's). Size: 65" L, 11" H

A late winter scene picturing a majestic white hawk alighting on a plum branch in full bloom. Hawks—which were used for hunting during the Momoyama and Edo periods (takagari)—are considered symbols of nobility, strength, and are thought to embody the samurai spirit. This piece is signed Kano Tanshin, though it is unclear exactly which Tanshin as there were several Kano painters who went by this name during this period.

Color on silk, this scroll is 71.5 inches tall (18...

Japanese scroll painting of a mountain landscape with a river leading into a waterfall, tree branches overhanging the edge of the mountain, a tent set up at the water's edge beside some flowers. Artist chop on side. Size: (entire scroll) 72" H x 18.5" W (artwork only) 41" H x 13" W)