Sometime around the year 1600 the first Takatori kiln was constructed at the foot of Mt Takatori in Fukuoka. This tradition was based on styles created by Korean potters brought to the shores of Japan during its colonial expansionism of the late 16th century. A favorite of the Kuroda lords of the time, its production and use was closely guarded until later in the 19th century when the domain system was abolished, freeing it up to be more widely used...

Antique Japanese Seto ware chawan (tea bowl) with horses. A raised horse gallops on the outside of the cup near a fence. On the inside bottom of the cup is another running horse. Both have a celadon crackle glaze. The cup shape has an undulating surface and is glazed a rich, mottled brown with yellow flecks...

Antique Japanese Raku ware chawan (tea bowl) with green crackle glaze. Kyoto. Incised ridges so the bowl molds to your hand...

Japanese antique Tsutsu chawan (tea bowl) with yellow crackle glaze. The bottom displays lovely glaze drips. Raku school, Kyoto. Very rare tea bowl. Evaluated by TZ Shiota (#12) in 1930's when the family inheritied the collection from their great grandfather.

Age: 17th century...

Japanese antique Mishima ware hagi tea bowl with pink and gray glaze and wave pattern...

Late Meiji / early Taisho (1910s) Japanese Bizen stoneware okimono modeled as Gama Sennin - an ascetic - with his usual companion - a toad. Excellent modeling with wonderful facial expression, fine detailing. Typical Bizen body and superbly beautiful glaze ranging in color from olive to brown. Signed by the potter on the bottom on the bottom...

Polychrome sculpture in Sumida-gawa stoneware, also called Sumida-yaki, representing an old man surrounded by five monkeys in front of a basket containing two nuts. Glazed clothes and basket.

Seal underneath of Kinoshita (木下).

Sumida-yaki ceramics takes its name from the Sumida River (Sumida gawa), near which it was created by Inoue Ryosai I (1828-1899) in 1875...

Height: 38.4 cm (15.4 in)
Width: 18.5 cm (7.3 in)

Japanese large Satsuma square section vase; shows heavily-gilt polychrome Geisha and children surrounding the piece with details of the clothing picked out in colourful moriage diaper work; a flock of cranes are on the wing under the rim; signed to the base; good condition

Kyoto ceramic statuette of Guanyin. The clay is not earthenware, but rather stoneware fired at low temperature. An enamel decoration, applied to a cracked glaze, covers the entire statuette. The rock-base is enamelled in green and blue, stained with gold. The dress of the deity is enamelled with stylized flowers and scrolls in blue, green and red, but the whole is dominated by gold. This statuette is of excellent quality, elegant and rare...

1920s Japanese ceramic tokkuri - sake bottle - with body pinched on 3 sides, one indent containing a low relief figure of standing Hotei (one of the 7 Gods of Good Luck and incarnation of Maitreya - the Buddha of the future). The piece was made at Bizen kilns, characteristic brown clay body, beautiful patina. Clever design, very pleasant to hold, in excellent condition. Height 7 1/8 inches.

A stylized grass motif painted in ferrous pigment across each side and on the inside of this mukozuke serving dish marks it as being more likely produced in Karatsu as opposed to having come out of a Mino kiln. Though very similar styles and techniques were utilized during the late 16th or early 17th C. when this would have been produced; the color, distribution of glaze, and patterning suggest Karatsu...

The size of Shigaraki Vase: 13 3/4" High x 9 5/8" Dia 350 mm x 245 mm
This is very old and rare Japanese Shigaraki Vase from Early Edo (Edo Zenki) 17th Century. Please see the history of Shigaraki and what is Shigaraki at separate paragraph. The condition of Vase, please note there are two Kizu (damage spot) at the top rim area as photo showing.The lower body of line indentation is Hera (spatula) marking.and Kama kizu (kiln flaw). Otherwise great shape for the age from 17th century...

A large Japanese tokurri, emulating Korean Buncheon ware, with inlaid slip decoration; Edo period. The decoration is divided into multiple bands of repeating designs, which have been incised into the clay body. A white slip was applied, and the body wiped clean; leaving the slip infilling the incisions. The vase was coated in a celadon glaze; the body burnt red where the glaze was not present. Condition is good, with some light wear, and firing imperfections. Height 43 cm. To keep ou...

TEA CEREMONIAL POT WITH DRIPPING GLAZE

Unique and rare find of an old Japanese double-eared pottery tea utensil ware for the use of flowering or incense made of the well-burnt blackish clay containing rich in iron in the traditional but more like organic forming by refined tebineri (hand-forming) finished with such wildly dripping glaze, 19th - early 20th century, approx. 18.5 x 18.5 x H 16 cm (7.28 x 7.28 x 6.29in).


selected by hotoke ...

Late 19th century Japanese Bizen stoneware okimono modeled as meditating Daruma - the founder of Zen Buddhism - enveloped in his monk’s robe with a hood, his hands folded on his chest. Excellent modeling with wonderful facial expression of severe concentration, fine detailing. Typical Bizen color to the surface, eyes are highlighted with white enamel, beautiful patina, in great condition. Marked with a potter’s stamp on the bottom, appears to read EISHO. Height 4 1/8 inches.

During Japan's Momoyama period, spanning from the late 16th to the early 17th century, Bizen pottery flourished, producing exquisite pieces such as this symmetrical and elegant flower vase. Crafted from locally sourced Bizen clay, this vase embodies simplicity and understated elegance. Its unassuming form showcases the natural beauty of the clay, enhanced by a delicate ash glaze. The texture and shape evoke a sense of rustic charm, reflecting the profound harmony between human creati...

Crafted from locally sourced Bizen clay, this mid-Edo period vase embodies simplicity, beauty, and understated elegance. Its unassuming form showcases the natural beauty of the clay, enhanced by a delicate ash glaze. The texture and shape evoke a sense of rustic charm, reflecting the profound harmony between human creativity and the organic world. Now several centuries old, this piece continues to serves not only as a functional display piece, but also as a symbol of the enduring leg...

Tall and slender vase of heishi-shape made of fine, light brown stoneware, covered in a multi color purple flambé glaze. Over this in mostly white enamel a scene is painted of a large, partially deconstructed/built up skeleton, tied to sticks, and a host of small skeletons dancing and running around it between small clouds of gold dots.

The shoulder of the vase decorated in blue, white and greenish enamels and gold with leaf-like shapes, meandering lines and dots.

Unsigned. Japan, ...

Gorgeous Awata cereamic 'suiban' or flower vase by 'Tozan, Ca. 1930 with original box. perfect condition. 11" wide and 8" deep x 3" tall. Ask for shipping quote.

Lavender and aquamarine coat the surface of this vase from the Kairakuen Kilns of the Ki branch of the Tokugawa family dating from the 19th century. The circular window between floral scrolls is made in the shape of the archaic character Kotobuki. The vase is 18 cm (7 inches) tall and in excellent condition, and bears the Kairakuen seal impressed into the base. It comes enclosed in an old kiri-wood collectors box titled Kairakuen-ki Juji Moyo Kabin (Kairakuen Vessel decorated with Character of f...

A Japanese stoneware sake bottle, tokkuri, probably from the Inuyama kiln in Maruyama, Owari Province.

The kiln is noted for overglaze enameling introduced by Dohei in 1835 and the gourd-shaped bottles decorated with maple leaves are perhaps the best known of all. This example is decorated with coloured branches and Ming dragons set within a frame of red lattice. The body is stoneware covered in a finely crackled clear glaze.

This is a genuine old bottle, in overall good state ex...

B.1869 - d. 1945, Tsukitani was a flamboyant woman potter breaking through the often stiff men's world of pottery. Her peak period was ca.1915 -ca.1932. Her work is known as "Tsukitani ware". Known as a pioneer woman's potterer and sculpter. 15cm tall x 20cm wide. Ask for shipping quote. Great condition with unsigned wood box.

A shard has been grafted into the side of this large misshapen Shino bottle dating from the Momoyama to early Edo period, the repair lined with gold. Gold also circle the neck where the discarded misfire was repaired, and gleams on the lip. It is 22 cm (9 inches) tall and in excellent condition. It comes in an age darkened wooden box titled Ko-Shino Tokkuri, Shoki no Kama (Old Shino Tokkuri, early Kiln era)
This method of using pieces from multiple works with lacquer repair is called Yobi...

Rich green glaze covers this elongated delicate undulating bottle from the Kosugi-yaki tradition of the Kaga region near modern day Kanazawa city. This bottle is roughly 20 cm (8 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Kosugi ware is a type of pottery that was produced in Kosugi Town over four generations for about 80 years, from around the early Bunka era (1810-1820) to the Meiji 20s (around 1890). In the hilly area south of Imizu City that connects Ikeda, Hirano, Ueno, and Hashimotojo,...

A lovely chawan made of three separate excavated shards connected by lines of gold dating from the Kamakura to early Muromachi periods (13th to 14th centuries). It is 15.7 cm diameter, 7 cm tall and in excellent condition, enclosed in an old wooden box.

Unusual Pottery sweets dish in soft green glaze by the 11th generation head of the Raku Family Keinyu, enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Chagata Kobachi. Covered in crackled pale green glaze, it is 11.5 cm diameter, 8 cm tall and in excellent condition.
The 11th generation head of the Raku family, Keinyu, was born a second son of Ogawa Naohachi, a sake brewer from Tanba, the present Kameoka city in Kyoto, he was adopted in the Raku family as Tannyû's son-in-law, assuming...

A radical Bizen Mizusashi with two lacquered wooden lids enclosed in a black lacquered wooden box with gold lacquer writing titled Samidare which is in turn enclosed in a kiri-wood storage box by the same title compartmentalized to allow the lids to be stored safely. Samidare is a poetic reading for Rain of the Fifth Month (June in the traditional calendar). It has a seal of overlapping rings impressed into the earth of the base, and dates from the Edo period. The lids are for differing event...

Plums blossom red on the dark surface of this traditionally shaped Mizusashi bearing the rare Ubagamochi Stamp impressed into the clay of the base. It is 18 cm diameter, 15 cm tall, and comes in an old custom made collectors kiri-wood box labeled Ubagamochi Mimitsuki Mizusashi. It retains the original ceramic lid, as well as two lacquered lids, one a tsukuibuta lid in austere black, the other redish brown outside, gold within, featuring a raised image of a dragon flying through billowing cloud...

Stoneware chawan with beige cracked glaze. The decoration represents bamboo and plum blossoms. Attributed to Aoki Mokubei (1767-1833). Width: 12 cm Height: 7.5 cm. Period: 19th century.

Stoneware chawan with black glaze and floral spatula decoration. Diameter: 13 cm. Height: 8 cm. Origin: Japan. Period late 19th century. Attributed to Ogata Kenzan school.

A pair of vases in the shape of old wooden well buckets (tsurube) in white glaze upon which is scrawled in beautiful grass scrip a poem by Otagaki Rengetsu. The poem reads: Yamazato wa
matsu no koe nomi
kiki nare te
kaze fuka nu hi wa
sabishikari keri
Which translates as:
Living deep in the mountains
I’ve grown fond
of the soughing pines
On days when the wind is still
how lonely it is
Each is roughly 15 cm (just under 6 inches...

An E-karatsu Yobitsugi bowl made of various shards attached with wide bands of gold to a discarded base: the pieces dating from the Momoyama to early Edo periods. It is 22 x 20 x 6 cm 8-1/2 x 8 x 2-1/4 inches) and comes enclosed in a modern kiri-wood collectors box titled E-Karatsu Hachi.
This method of using pieces from multiple works with lacquer repair is called Yobitsugi. Yobitsugi is a form of kintsugi that entails combining pieces of different objects together in order to create a ...

Crafted from locally sourced Bizen clay, this mid-Edo period vase embodies simplicity, beauty, and understated elegance. Originally crafted as a tokkuri, or sake flask, it was recovered from the estate of a tea-practitioner who reportedly cherished it as a vase that would hold colorful flowers and various grasses throughout the seasons.

Thanks to the dedication and passion of a researcher by the name of Katsura Matasaburo (1901-1986) we can be assured that this vase is a...

An unprecedented 19th century ceramic sculpture of a tumble of Shishi lions in a playful fight covered in unusual green-blue glaze. The Banko mark is impressed into the white clay of the base. It is very unusual to find large sculptures or works in Banko ware. This is 30 × 25 x 26.5 cm (12 x 10 x 10-1/2 inches) and in excellent condition. It comes in a box titled Okimono Banko-yaki Gyoku (Jade?) Shishi, with an inscription inside stating it was named a famous piece of the Shrine in July of 192...

Japanese Mugiwara pottery emerged in the Mino region of Japan during the Momoyama period in the late 16th century. It is renowned for its distinctive straw-rope patterns etched into or painted on its surfaces that typically contains hues of indigo, mustard, hazel, ochre, and sometimes greens. The creation of Mugiwara pottery involves a process of hand-building or wheel-throwing clay pieces—typically serving dishes, vases, and teaware items—and then meticulously applying a straw-r...

Antique Japanese small Satsuma ware ceramic vase. Crackle glaze decorated with a continuous scene of noble men and women with children. Painted with colors and gold. Incised 2 character mark on the bottom.

Age: Meiji period (circa 1880)

Dimensions: 5 3/4" high x 2 1/2"wide

Antique Japanese small Satsuma ware tea pot. Decorated with detailed scenes in color and gold. On one side are seven arhats and on the other side are ladies. Minute detailed pattern and flowers. The tea pot is complete with small, square lid. With Satsuma mark on the bottom.

Age: Meiji Period (c.1880)

Dimensions: 3 3/4" high x 4 3/8" long x 2" wide

Museum piece Edo Period Ca. 1860-1880 tea leaf storage jar 'tsubo' from Shigaraki, the famed pottery center outside of Kyoto. Natural wood fired glazes and straw cap. Excellent condition. Quite large. 25" tall and 13" in diameter. Ask for shipping quote.

A crane rises elegantly from a truncated tree, the legs intricately crafted and the body flowing in a liquid grace. This is Bizen Saikumono, a body of Bizen popular throughout the Edo, Meiji and early 20th centuries. Craftsman carved wild animals, mythical beasts, human figures and many other figures out of the smooth Bizen clay, relying on perfection of form, allowing the firing to add color without overt decoration. This figure is 34 cm (13-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. It comes...

A crusty wood fired Bizen dish with looping handle, one hemisphere rounded, the other pinched as if for pouring, dating from the Edo period enclosed in an ancient custom fit lacquered Kiri-wood box. It is 23.5 x 22cm x 12.5 cm (roughly 9 inches diameter, 5 inches tall) and is in surprisingly excellent overall condition, with a few nicks to the edge of the foot consistent with age. Evidencing the centuries, there is a loss near the handle to some thicker glaze encrustation. This only happens wi...

A masterpiece of Akahada Pottery ware in the shape of a wooden bucket with elaborate scrolling feet from the kiln of Okuda Mokuhaku. It is 18 x 18 x 19 cm (7 x 7 x 7-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition, enclosed in a modern wooden collector’s box.
Okuda Mokuhaku (1800-1871) was born the son of a merchant in Sakai Machi Yamato Koriyama in Nara Prefecture that served the local lords with hair ornaments, make-up supplies and other fashionable items. His given name was Kamematsu, whi...

An Edo period Kogo incense case of pale earth tones decorated with geometric shapes and green copper glaze in the oribe style with a scrawling streak of kintsugi gold extending down two sides. Kintsugi is the art of repairing using lacquer and powdered gold. Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery or ceramics using lacquer and powdered precious metals. Instead of hiding the cracks and flaws, kintsugi embraces them and turns them into a beautiful and unique feature...

The surface of this black glazed bowl signed on the base Dohachi has been impressed all over with seals in a style known as In-chirashi. It comes in an ancient wooden box with ebony rim titled inside Dohachi Saku (Chirashi-in) Chawan, while outside a much-worn paper label reads In-chirashi Dohachi Saku Chawan. The original silk pouch, much deteriorated, is included, but no longer strong enough to hold the bowl. Without a box signed and sealed specifically by the artist, it is difficult to attr...

Very interesting,bowl. Porcelaneous grey stoneware with a underglaze red decoration under a greenish colour fine crackled glaze. I am not very familiar with korean resp. japanese ceramics - I never before have seen a piece like this, but I know, how to look at a piece of porcelain resp. stoneware - this piece is genuine. It also has a " provinience " - it comes from a native Dayak family - very far from the interior of Kalimantan, Borneo. Diameter : 16,3 cm. Perfect condition ! ( This, what...

This water jar, "mizugame," stands 60cm (23.5") high with a mouth diameter of 55cm (21.5".) The rich brown glaze is decorated front and back with freely poured ladle splashes of black slip. A band of 5 incised lines runs about 7cm below the rim of the jar. The decoration is similar to Tamba wares at first glance, but a look at the unglazed bottom reveals not the red clay of Tamba, but a yellowish-light brown clay from Seto or elsewhere. Water Jars like this one were a standard object outside of...

Sake Flask, "tokkuri," Meiji Era (1868-1912) from Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture. H.10", Body Dia.6". This early Mashiko ware shows the "tobi kanna" technique of chatter marking around the body. In Meiji-era Mashiko, this patterned flask was called a "matsu-kawa-tokkuri" (pine-skin-tokkuri.) A rich, dark brown glaze decorates the neck. Similar wares were also produced around the same time in Fukushima Prefecture. Today, chatter marked wares, such as plates from Onta (Oita Prefecture) are the proba...

A late Edo - early Meiji tokkuri (sake flask) from the Hokuriku (central west coast) of Japan. H.24cm (9.5",) Body Dia. 16cm (6.25".) Probably fired in one of the no longer existent kilns of what is now Niigata Prefecture, this tokkuri has a rich yellowish-brown glaze which has experienced a nice crazing over time. Although from central Japan, the glaze and somewhat refined shape are reminiscent of Yatsushiro ware from Kumamoto in Kyushu. It is a folk piece, but at the same time has a wonderful ...

An antique flask much like a tokkuri used for transporting sake, the "abura" (oil) "dokkuri" (flask) was used to transport oil products. H.27cm (10.5"), Body Dia.16cm (6.25".) This one is from the old Echigo (present-day Niigata Prefecture) which had stores of oil used for heating and lighting that were shipped up the Japan Sea coast north to Hokkaido. This example is wonderfully pitted with oil over a white glaze, produced at one of the no longer existent folk kilns of the Echigo region. It's u...

A rich black glaze covers this Kasama-yaki jar from the late 19th C. It is in the shape of a "natsume," a tea powder caddy used in the tea ceremony. H.21.5cm (8.5") Body Dia.16cm (6.25".) Kasama wares currently do not enjoy the fame of pots from nearby Mashiko. But Kasama, in neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture about 30 minutes away by car, preceeded Mashiko in being a ceramic production center by nearly a century, and had a hand in training the early Mashiko potters. Though most Kasama wares were, ...

Toushin (wick) zara (plate) held a small amount of oil with a coiled wick, and was usually set in some sort of lamp arrangement. These were used until the advent of glass and other lamps. This example of fine folk pottery is from central Japan, likely Mino ware, produced during the Edo (1600-1868) Era. The top side has a warm yellow glaze, and the underside is unglazed. H. 1.5cm (0.6") Dia.10cm (4".)

Seto ware kneading bowl, or "konebachi" used in most Japanese households of the period. Characteristic warm yellow seto glaze with seiji (green) ladle drips to add accent to the rim. Height 15cm x Dia. 26.5cm. Minor glaze cracking inside the bowl.

Sake flask from Tamba kilns in Hyogo Prefecture, early-mid Meiji Era. Characteristic reddish-brown glaze with black ladle drips around the neck. H. 24cm, Dia. 13cm.

White Rabbit Ceramic Sculpture by Takegawa Chikusai (1809-1882), created in his final year, 1882. Takegawa Chikusai was responsible for putting Banko Yaki, and the Banko-gama kiln (established 1829) and its home of Yokkaichi City in Mie-ken back on its feet and on the map. Banko Yaki had previously been made in the early Edo Period in Kyoto. Takegawa Chikusai's work was bequeathed to the Yokkaichi Museum's permanent collection, so this is an extremely rare opportunity for you to own a masterpie...

This a Japanese or chinese stoneware bowl, probably from 17th century or earlier for tea drinking, just like the Matcha Bowl

This a Japanese pottery bowl, probably from 17th century or earlier, used for drinking tea (matcha bowl ) in very good condition, free shipping for now 08 X'mas

A perfectly potted body, a very beautiful Ge crackled glaze with an old original copper rim band to the rim. Most likely Japanese and probably from the seventeenth or eighteenth century. A simple graceful beauty. H : 7,9 cm. Condition : Perfect

A decorative Temmoku glazed bowl with a raised decoration of a Dragon and Lingzhi. Most probably Japanese and probably from the seventeenth or eighteenth century. There is an incised signature to the piece which could give final clarity to the educated among us. Diameter : 13,2 cm. H : 6,8 cm. Condition : Perfect

An Edo period Oribe sake bottle of simple but full proportions and with classically Japanese Zen decoration - austerely yet sensitively placed grass and blooms decoration in iron oxide on the softly crackled opaque off-white glaze ever so slightly scorched in the kiln on two sides where the body is almost slightly exposed and oxidized to a buff tone at those points. The cut foot also glazed save for a crescent reserve around the center where the warm gray body is exposed. The rim and neck glazed...

A set of five ceramic tea cups with box used to serve sencha produced by Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875). The cups are in the form of lotus leaves and the exterior of the cups contain an inscription by Rengetsu, which generally translates: The willows, not in its disarrayed form, the branches not touching, yet branching out into the world. Age: Late 19th century. Size: diameter 2.3" height 1.5"

An elegant Kyo-yaki wine ewer of traditional form decorated in gilt outlined enamels with weeping cherry Shidarezakura and brocade bands to the cover and rim. The ewer measures approximately 5 inches or 13cm in height and is approximately 16cm in width from the tip of the spout to the furthest point of the handle. Dating late Edo circa 1850. The ewer is in overall good condition some minute frits to the spout. Shipping at Cost