Wooden netsuke of the demon Oni hiding in a foot warmer (anka) in order to protect himself from the bean seeds that are thrown at him. The beans are represented by two inlaid stones. His right arm stands out, a part of his head is visible through a small hole in the foot warmer.

The Setsubun festival came from China it is introduced in Japan around the 8th century. Its celebrates the arrival of spring...

Funny brown-patinated bronze featuring a mouse standing on its hind legs on a squash.

Japan – Meiji (1868-1912)

Height : 14 cm (5.51 in) - Length : 24 cm (9.45 in) – Width : 8 cm (3.15 in)

Very beautiful Japanese table with four legs in gold, black and brown lacquer with two richly decorated tops. The upper tray presents a decoration of bats, kumori (蝙蝠), in flight in gold hiramaki-e lacquer on a brown lacquer background. The openwork side panels feature the same motif...

An antique Japanese Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made of Kuri (Chestnut) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware and Urushi lacquer finish. Upper section has 2 large drawers, a small drawer and a hinged door that hides 2 smaller drawers. The bottom section has 2 full width drawers for spacious storage. Each section has side handles for carrying from place to place...

An antique Japanese Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest) in 2 sections made of HInoki (Cypress) and Keyaki (Zelkkova) woods. All original hand forged iron handles including the Mokko style handles. Upper section has 2 sliding doors with iron wire mesh screen that was used similar to the western pie safe with 4 drawers below. The lower section has 2 sliding doors behind which is a removable shelf with 2 side by side drawers below. Side supports added strength and visual design to the chest...

High class Ohi Chawan made by the 8th generation Ohi Chozaemon (1851-1927) 120 years ago and is done in a style known as 'ameyu' or candy glazing. It comes with its originally signed and sealed wooden box.

The glazing is a wonderful example of ameyu and, in fact, approximates the color of a caramel candied-apple.

The interesting color scheme and glossy sheen make it an attractive backdrop for a frothy bowl of dark green matcha...

An antique Japanese Kasane Kimono Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made entirely of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the Gumbai drawer handles and the stylized Chrysanthemum lock plates. Each section has two full width drawers for abundant storage and each section has side handles for carrying the tansu...

An antique Japanese low Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest) made of Hinoki (Cypress) and Keyaki (Zelkova) woods. Original hand forged iron hardware with Warabite style handles. 2 Sliding doors behind which a split level shelf allows for abundant storage. Side support slats provide strength and visual design. 4 side by side drawers below provide additional storage.

Age: Meiji Era (1890-1900)

Dimensions: 43 1/2" Wide by 32" High by 15 3/4" Deep

Rare 17/18c Red Raku Kyogen Tsutsu Chawan (cylinder bowl) with old golden repair.
No mark...

A rare and exquisite piece by the 12th Kichizaemon (1857-1932) of the Raku lineage, now in its 16th generation. Not only with excellent documentation including a certification and endorsement by famed tea-master Sei-sai and a record from its sale at the Tokyo Art Club in 1938, there are many facets of this work that make it a must-have for serious collectors. The color is quite unique among Raku tea bowls with a distinctive yellow glaze that you rarely find on works such as this...

A Chinese style celadon incense burner by one of the 5 Imperial Court Artists of Meiji. Sozan spent his life perfecting techniques for celadon production first used in the Souther Song Dynasty as evidenced here with his powdery blue “kinuta” glaze. The bottom of the vessel is unglazed showing the fine porcelain clay and the adjacent glazed foot bears his Imperial Court Artist seal...

An antique Japanese Isho Tansu (Kimono chest) made of Kiri (Paulownia) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original bronze hardware with Warabite style handles. Upper section includes a pair of sliding doors with 3 side by side drawers below. The bottom two sections each have full width drawers for clothes storage. Made using straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nails...

An antique Japanese Kyoto Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest) made of Hinoki (Cypress) and Keyaki (Zelkova) woods...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (marchant chest) made of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the Kakute handles and incised Chrysanthemum lock plates. Unusual low size with two drawers side by side, a pair of sliding doors and a security hinged door behind which lie 3 small drawers and a secret hiding box. Side swivel handles through which a pole passed through allowing two persons to carry this chest from place to place. Constructed using straight dovetail...

An antique Japanese Kasane Tansu (stacking 2 section chest on chest) made entirely of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the Kakute style handles and beautiful lock plates with the owner's family crest incised in the design. Each section has two sets of side handles, one for long distance moving and a hand pair for room placement. Constructed using straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nails.

Age: Meiji Period (1880-1890)

Dimensions: ...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Kiri (Paulownia) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware including the stylized Kakute handles. Two pairs of sliding doors were used to store merchant records and books. 6 drawers were used for keeping business accessories and valuables. Main drawer lock plate features an incised Turnip with leaves. Constructed using dovetail joinery and side support slats. Iron bands in the back were used to add strength t...

An antique Japanese 1 section tall Gifu Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Hinoki (Cypress) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron and bronze hardware including the Hirute style handles. It features 2 pairs of large sliding doors and a lift-out door behind which were kept store records and books. 12 exterior drawers were used for storage and organizing. A small pair of sliding doors near the bottom hides two small drawers where valuables were kept.

Age: Meiji P...

Wood Sumikiri-bon with red urushi. Summikiri means a tray whose four corners are cut. Four sides have painted in Negoro style which has partly black urushi. Used and some scratches and chips in both sides . Late 19th to early 20th century. 36.5cm x 36.5cm x 3.5cm

Ivory netsuke representing a bamboo shoot (takenoko).

Netsuke constitute the major part of Japanese ivory of great quality. Since the Japanese costume (kimono) had no pockets, the objects were passed under the belt and the netsuke, held by a cord, was used to hold them.

From imaginary animals to natural and domestic elements, the subjects represented in netsuke are varied. The netsuke could represent elements of daily life. Netsuke carvers supplied for posterity ...

A beautifully crafted Shino ware chawan with fantastic crackled glaze by Kato Gorohachi (?-1900) The potter signature is carved on the bottom.

Probably inspired by early Korean Ido shape examples, the bowl perfectly lies in hands giving strong Wabi feel.

There is not much information available about this Meiji potter even in Japan and his birth year is unknown.
He worked in the Hinno kiln of Aichi Prefecture in late 19 century.

Shino ware pottery is produce...

A classic renditions of the Bodhidharma (more commonly known as the Daruma in Japan), this scroll from the Muromachi period (1336-1573) depicts the legendary monk who famously introduced Buddhism to China. Originally from India, he is said to have traveled across the Himalayas on foot to share the wisdom and knowledge from his studies of meditation which later spread to Japan, Korea, and other parts of the world. In Japanese Buddhist paintings from Edo to the present, the Daruma is often seen as...

Pure Aka-Raku Chawan by the 9th generation Raku Ryonyu (Raku Kichizaemon IX) 楽了入 (9代 楽吉左衛門) enclosed in its originally signed and sealed wooden box and made around the beginning of 19th century about 200 years ago during the Edo era.

This Raku chawan is particularly endowed with a structural power deriving from simple composition of features of a bowl - another reminiscence of the earlier generations of this unique family of artists.

Ryonyu was the second...

An antique Japanese Kotansu (personal storage chest) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. Hand forged iron hardware with Warabite style handles and corner drawer front reinforcements. 5 drawers for storage and organization with 2 side handles for carrying this chest from room to room. Constructed using straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nails. Perfect side chest or bedside night stand.

Age: Meiji Period (1880-1890)

Dimensions: 22 1/2" Wide by 22 1/2" High by 12" Deep

Outstanding Ohi Chawan from the early stage of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) with a rarely seen octopus and coral sculpture on it. The outer earthy amber glaze harmonises wonderfully with the colourful interior landscape of the bowl. A firework of colours running into each other. What an impressive demonstration of the artistry of this 19th century artist. His seal is printed on the unglazed foot ring.

The mesmerizing play of tones of this particular vessel is yet another fine example o...

Tenmokujawan, a tea bowl which is mended with kintsugi with seigaiha (wave pattern) makie. Tenmokujawan is a pottery tea bowl which is fired with Tenmoku glaze (iron glaze). It is made in Seto in Aichi prefecture, one of places where copies of Chinese potteries were manufactured. 17th or 18th century. Diameter:11.8cm, H:5.8cm

A fine Japanese lacquer tray dating Taisho era, pre 1920. In excellent condition with only having some light wear to the bottom from sliding on tables or what not over the years. Measures: Length 8" x Width 6.75"

Japanese Yama Chawan (literally 'Mountain Tea Bowl'), biscuit firing ware with impressive natural glaze and slightly distorted form. It dates back to the Kamakura Period (1185 - 1333). Highlight is the inside design with a Japanese Koi image which was added by a former owner as a kind of Kintsugi to close a damage on the inside surface. Such typ of Kintsugi is definitely rare.

You can also find traces of the famous kai-yu glaze on this excavated piece.

At the beginning of ...

Important and extremely rare Mid Edo Period Narumi Oribe Mizusashi (fresh water container) in perfect antique condition with no cracks or repairs and with its original lid. It is almost impossible to find such an old and valuable Oribe Mizusashi - so take your chance. It comes with a very good Japanese wooden box.

Narumi Oribe ware is comprised of white and red (reddish brown) clays. The white clays are glazed with green glaze. The red (reddish brown) clays are decorated with white...

Amazing boro which used to be noragi (work wear). It is made of many fragments of vegetable indigo dye and hand^spun cotton cloth. It is from cold areas such as Tohoku or Japan Sea Side where cotton could not be cultivated and cotton cloth for kimono was expensive so that people bought fragments which were brought from warm areas such as Shikoku , Kandsai or Chubu districts. The second half of the 19th century. Measurement: Approx. 160cm x 150cm

We are proud to offer you a really rare antique piece of art and one of a kind: wonderful Echizen Chawan from the Momoyama Era (安土桃山時代 Azuchi Momoyama jidai; 1573–1603) without any crack, damage or repair.

There is no similar item on the antique market.

Echizen ware (called Echizen yaki in Japanese) is a type of pottery produced in the town of Echizen, Fukui prefecture. This traditional handicraft comes from one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan which along w...

Frog on a water lily and a lotus root at the base. The whole is in bronze with a dark brown patina.

In the Japanese bestiary, the frog has a special place, carrying positive values. Both the frog and the toad, called kaeru, come back every year, no matter how far away they are from the pond where they were born. The word Kaeru is a synonym for "coming home". It is the protective animal for travelers and the symbol of hospitality. Its effigy is present on door hammers or gongs placed...

Inrô with four lacquer compartments representing eagles: eight on one side, seven on the other, one on the upper side called ten; sometimes posed on a rocky promontory in takamaki-e and kirigane lacquer, sometimes in flight near the sea. Bamboo branches. Bottom in fundame and hiramaki-e lacquer. Interior in nashi-ji lacquer. The eagle motif is relatively rare in Japanese iconography. Most of its representations are found on older lacquerware. Ojime in red lacquer. One side represents an autu...

Golden patinated bronze representing a lying crane with its baby bird on its back.

The Japanese crane is also known as tanshozuru (丹頂鶴) which mean “red crowned crane”. It is known to be standing for longevity since the tale told this animal to be 100 years old. The crane is omnipresent in Japanese culture, mostly in the tales of “Tsuru no Ongaeshi” and “Tsuru Nyobo".

Furthermore, if you fold and bound a thousand crane of a paper to each other throughout ...

Inrô with five compartments with lake landscape decoration in continuity on both sides, in gold lacquer hira maki-e, taka maki-e, kirigane and brown lacquer on a fundame gold background. The interior is in nashi-ji lacquer.

Wooden netsuke representing Daikoku, carrying in his right hand his wooden mallet and in his left hand his bag.

Daikoku, deity of wealth and trade, is part of the Seven Gods of Happiness. His wooden mallet or hammer represents the virtue of work ...

Over the years we have taken a special interest in Raku-ware and especially in works produced by the Tamamizu kiln, such as the 300+ year old ceremonial tea bowl seen here. The first in this line of potters was Yahē (1662 - 1722), an illegitimate son of Kichizaemon Ichinyu (1615 - 1768) who studied under his father and then left to open his own kiln in the village of Tamamizu (known today as Ide-cho). Though he is the first potter of this branch, he is sometimes referred to as Tamamizu VI, deno...

Revered Chinese scholar and tea master, Lù Yǔ is known as the “Sage of Tea” and is credited with advancing the practice of tea through the writing of his life’s work,The Classic of Tea. Here we see a masterful rendition of this historic figure done by one of the most iconic Kyoto painters—and founder of the Maruyama school—Maruyama Ōkyo.

Student of Ishida Yutei (1772-1786), Maruyama studied primarily Kano and Tosa painting and was influenced greatly by western art, par...