This is a Bakumatsu item. This hemp Tsutsugaki Noren was used by merchants who handled horses, which was an important means of transportation from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. This Noren was used in front of the eaves, so it has some discoloration and light stains, but it has been carefully stored. The items are very rare and very valuable. The letters of "Otsu Higashimachi" are the letters of a spell to ward off horse plagues...

Antique Japanese small, single section Mizuya (kitchen tansu). Hinoki (Japanese Cypress) wood frame with Sugi (Cryptomeria) wood sides and interior. Sliding panels and drawer fronts are made of Keyaki (Zelkova) wood with lovely, dramatic grain. A drop-in panel and hand-pulls on the sliders are made of Bamboo, showcasing fine details...

This tripod censer has an extremely well potted rare shape. The censer is covered with an superb opaque glaze of finely mottled turquoise and purplish-blue tone. A piece of superlatives. The Mark on the piece is the Mark of the legendary Imperial Supervisor Tang Ying but the piece probably is from the nineteenth century. Diameter : 14,8 cm. H : 7,4 cm. Condition : Perfect. Provenance : Old south German collection.

An unusual mask with gaping jaws and flattened features covered in red and black lacquer with golden teeth and eyes dated a lucky day in the 6th month of Tenmei 2 (1782). The mask is of carved wood covered in cloth over which has been applied layers of colored lacquer, gold and gofun (powdered shell) to form the white eyebrows. It is quite unusual in configuration. Most masks are open at the back, however this is carved with curling hair all the way down to the neck...

An exceptional web of gold interspersed with nishiki-cloth patterned designs on gold lacquer fuses this once broken 16th-17th century Koro with ami-me net patterned solid silver lid. This was likely originally made as a tea cup, considering that the entire interior is glazed. Broken and reassembled using the Kintsugi gold technique and placing unusual patterns on the missing portions, this is an exceptional work of art...

Qing dynasty 18 - 19th century Chinese bronze censer, good condition please see picture for detail, size: 12 cm diameter.

Early 19c Chinese scholar’s carved rosewood double dragon brush rest. The dragons have wonderful facial features with turned up snouts. There is a round knob on the top between the two facing dragons to turn it easily. The bodies, feet and curling tails are wonderful. Workmanship and quality is superb, showing early original patina to the surfaces. The color is a rich reddish brown with all the shiny areas right where they should be from handling...

Antique Japanese gunbai, war fan belonging to a high ranking samurai officer. Made of lacquered wood with shell inlay and with 2 large cut outs. This fan would have been used to shade from the sun and to signal troops. Though this shape of fan was not used as a weapon, it could have come in very handy in battle and there are legends of samurai heroes fighting with nothing but their war fans. The art of fighting with a war fan is called tessenjutsu...

An unrecorded and possibly unique antique English composite stem wine glass. The upper portion of the drawn trumpet bowl leads into an extended plain bowl base. This is above a double series opaque twist stem, comprised of an extremely wide spiral tape outside of a pair of spiral tapes. Completing the rarity of this glass are a shoulder and medial knop...

A very rare and unusual parrot form bronze (copper tin alloy) incense burner made in China in the late Ming Dynasty, probably circa 1620 to 1640, during either the Tianqi or Chongzhen reigns. This item is partially coated with old black lacquer.

Condition: the cover is missing; and there are losses to the tip of the tail...

Antique Chinese pair of archaic hand carved bracelets, rested on custom iron display stands. Hand carved from Limestone. Circa: 2,000 B.C.

Size: 5.5" x 5.5", 5" x 5" (7.5" H total height on stands)

The large characters in the center of this scroll "南無妙法蓮華経" are pronounced as "Namu Myōho Renge Kyō” in English — a phrase associated with Nichiren Buddhism that is often recited as a mantra, expressing devotion to the Lotus Sutra. This sutra is one of the main tenants of Nichiren and is thought by devotees to be the ultimate law and truth of the universe...

A charming example of Abraham Parsell's ability to capture the essential characteristic of a sitter and portray them in a wonderful naïve manner. In the miniature portrait presented here we have a young man with striking blue eyes and a mound of curly hair. He is attired in a dark brown jacket, black vest, and white tie and shirt.

The condition of the painting is excellent, with no cracks, chips, bowing, fading, etc...

A beautiful and tall open flame oil lamp of Facon de Venice type, probably from Liege. Showing superb proportions and elegance, the large spouted font sits atop a capstan type knop, above a hollow, squat inverted baluster knop, which in turn leads into an elongated, hollow, rib-molded inverted baluster type stem that has 3 graduated applied ruffled collars or trailings, finally ending in a basal knop above a folded foot.

The lamp is 9 5/16" tall, with a foot diameter of 4 3/8"...

A beautiful Georgian ratafia glass featuring an extremely narrow drawn trumpet bowl engraved with flowers and leaves. For the same glass see plate #336 in "Eighteenth Century English Drinking Glasses" by L.M. Bickerton, published by the Antique Collectors' Club.

Conical foot with rough pontil. The glass is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, cloudiness, or restoration. Good color, striations, and tooling marks. Wonderfully and elegantly proportioned, being quite tall at 7 5/8", and...

Stemming from the philosophy of wabi-sabi—often described as the beauty found in the imperfection and transience of the world—cracks and repairs in a work of pottery are often seen as highlighting the history and importance of a ceramic object. Practitioners of tea in particular are fond of reminding us that works repaired with lacquer and gold such as the one featured here become more resilient and beautiful for having been damaged. In this case, the gold repairs undoubtedly enhance the bea...

We present a rare medium sized Tenmoku tea bowl with partrige feather mottles (Chinese: 'Zhegu Ban'), made during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) or earlier. Looking inside this Tenmoku chawan is like glazing deep into the cosmos. There one can understand the meaning of microcosm and ask whether one is looking inward or outward; probably both.

The deep rounded sides of this elegantly potted tenmoku chawan are rising from a short straight foot to a lipped rim, covered overall...

Chinese monochrome porcelain brush pot in a Turkish blue color underglaze, with reticulated carved scenes of cranes and pine branches against a ground of stylized lingzhi clouds and ocean waves. The base with six character Qianlong cartouche.

Republic Period

Dimensions: 7 1/2" w x 7 3/4" h