18th century or earlier iron sukashi Japanese sword tsuba with pierced decoration of bamboo and plum flowers. They represent two out of the Three Friends of Winter (pine, bamboo and plum) celebrated for the fact that they do not wither as the cold days deepen into the winter season unlike many other plants. Wonderful design, in great condition. Height 2.73 inches.

A fine large straight sided Japanese Ko Imari cup, inoguchi, or hogs mouth beaker; sometimes referred to as “soba choko”, a cup for “soba” buckwheat noodles. It is decorated primarily in underglaze blue with a leaping Chinese Lion or karashishi in a landscape of rocks and Tree Peonies, botan, a classic subject in Japanese art known as “Botan-ni-Shishi”, which combines the auspicious qualities of the King of Beasts and King of Flowers...

Late 189th century Indian bronze votive plaque depicting Khandoba (a form of Shiva worshipped in Western India) mounted on a horse with his wife Mhalsa in his lap, and a dog following the horse. Khandoba holds various implements in his upper hands and a short sword in his left lower hand. Two round holes with raised lips on top probably signify the sun and the moon. Nice quality casting for that type of plaques, beautiful patina, the front is graciously worn from 200 years of worship...

Japanese Arita porcelain square sake bottle with Dutch Kakiemon decoration. The bottle is square with a short waisted neck and everted lip. Each side is painted with unique images of birds, flowers and plants. The color scheme is iron-red, turquoise, blue and green with some gold. Minor wear consistent with age. Provenance: San Francisco collection.

Date: circa 19th Century

Dimensions: 8.5" X 4"

Large medallion with a relief design on both sides, a galloping horse on the obverse and a scorpio surrounded by symbols on the reverse. Tin alloy, soil incrustations. Siam, Ayuthaya period15th to 18th century. Diameter: 6,7 cm. Good condition.

A namasu of slightly flattened form with an inturned rim. Decorated in nishiki-de style with a combination of underglaze blue, gilding and gilt outlined enamels typical of the late Mid Edo period c.1750-80. The central mikomi incorporating auspicious peonies painted in underglaze blue with two eliptical reserves containing a beached boat and elements of a landscape. Framed by a band containing two partially obscured dragons chasing flaming pearls...

Large Japanese antique sumie dragon flying in clouds scroll. Exuberantly painted on silk with lovely splashes of ink. Brown brocade mounting. Good condition. Signed and sealed signed Hōgen Nyosen, one of the names used by Kanō Chikanobu (1660-1728), a leading Kano-school painter of the eighteenth century Edo. (Hōgen means "dharma eye" and Nyosen means "river-like")...

Chinese porcelain dish decorated in cobalt blue underglaze. Made for the European market.18° century. Very beautiful quality of design that is found only on some imperial porcelain (not on all) and almost never on export porcelain. Also this exceptional technique of pointillist to nuance the blue. The set of rocks is composed of 10 000 points. Seeing the buffalo on loan is a real pleasure, the movement of its tail, the position of the legs. No mistake...

18th century Indian bronze chhappa (a tantric ritual stamp), its base leaving an imprint of a peacock feather. The chhappas were used during tantric temple ceremonies to stamp the proscribed parts of the body such as the forehead, cheeks, shoulders, forearms and stomach with a paste of white (for Vaishnavites) or red (for Shaivites) sandalwood. The marks on the body provide a visual display of the adherent’s devotion and transfer the beneficence of the deity to the wearer...

Very large iron tsuba representing a man riding a giant boar. This illustrates the story of a hunter who to defend his lord during a hunting party jumped on a boar, rode it, sat upside down and stabbed it to death. This brave hunter was called Nitan No Shiro and the action took place around Mount Fuji. The tsuba is in hammered iron, the drawings of the hunter and the boar are incised with a chisel, the hat of Nitan is inlaid in sentoku (copper) some details are in gilded bronze or gold...

Northern Indian Mogul dynasty 1526–1858, established by Babur, Muslim descendant of Tamerlane, the 14th-century Mongol leader. The Mogul emperors ruled until the last one, Bahadur Shah II, was dethroned and exiled by the British; they included Akbar, Aurangzeb, and Shah Jahan...

18th century Japanese sword iron tsuba with raised and inlaid decoration of a seated tiger scratching its ear by a thick stem of bamboo with leaves. Delightful design, good work, wonderful depiction of the creature, gilded and silvered leaves, very pleasant feel of age. Height 2 15/16 inches.

A very unusual plate decorated with a central motif of a a late 17th century style “Kakiemon Dragon” framed by a segmented border with floral roundels each with fifteen petals set against a stylised wave and scroll ground, that seems to reference some of the wave patterns popular during the Transitional period...

Japanese 17th century Momoyama Period six panel Byobu painted screen of the Tale of Genji. This remarkable screen is in great form painted with rimpa polychrome mineral paint on gold gilt gofun paper. The composition is complex and it allows the viewers to have a bird's eye view of the scene and events amidst swirling clouds...

Very small scroll painting for in the back of a house shrine. Sumie. Daruma standing on a reed stalk crossing the river Yangtse. In the upper part a commentary or a poem...

Wall vase in cast bronze, representing a dragon coiled on itself, its meandering body delimiting the contours of the vase. The casting must have been complicated and several holes and gaps appeared which were filled with welded bronze plates as can be seen in the detail photos. At the back a finely crafted ring allows the suspension. Most likely Japanese work. The power of the dragon, the simplicity of execution and the casting problems allow us to date it very early Edo or before, the excellent...

21.375" blade with a wild midare hamon. Nakago with eight-character signature "Harima Daijō Fujiwara Tadakuni" ( 信濃大掾藤原忠國 ) ; probably 2nd generation (1624). Nagako is possibly ubu (meaning that remains as it is since it was made) with three mekugi-ana. Blade contained in shirasaya attributing blade to Tadakuni. Swordsmith is listed as TA41 from W.M. Hawley, page 368.

SAYAGAKI is the writing on the shirasaya that is done by a sword expert for the purpose of identifi...

Height: 22.8 cm (9.2 in)
Width: 11.5 cm (4.6 in)

Very rare Chinese porcelain apple green crackle vase; Kangxi Period; some scuffing to the surface; lovely gold netting crackle inside the neck and on the base; Kangxi marks; good condition; email for more pictures