A large porcelain vase covered in olive green upon which grows a rush of white bamboo and a brief epitaph by Miura Chikusen I enclosed in the original signed wooden box dating to the late Meiji or early Taisho period. It is 15 inches (37.5 cm) tall and in excellent condition. The box has much darkened with age. Works of this size by Chikusen, who largely specialized in the minute world of Sencha ware are quite rare...

A pair of large mixed metal birds on a custom black lacquered table by Iwase Seifu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled So-Hato Okimono. Excellent detail, the birds are life sized, the strutting male figure signed on the posterior is roughly 9 inches long, 8 inches tall. Both are in good condition, with some wear to the silvering.

A rare 17th century Japanese Lacquer table performed in the Nanban style exhibited in 1972 at the Kyoto National Museum (including paperwork from the museum). Overall it is in excellent condition, enclosed in an older wooden storage box. It is 12 x 17 x 14 inches (31 x 43 x 36 cm)...

Oversized Japanese limited edition sosaku hanga “kappa-ban” (stencil print) rendered in bold colors featuring a kabuki actor portraying a samurai plunging an arrow titled “Arrowhead” by Yoshitoshi Mori (1898-1992). The print is pencil-signed, dated ’76, and numbered 43/50. The artist’s red seal is above the date. The paper size is about 27 1/2” x 23 1/2." Very good, clean overall condition. The print is very faintly sun struck from prior matting...

Pencil-signed etching by Czech artist Emil Orlik (1870-1932) titled "In the Evening" (Im Abend) dated 1902. This etching was produced shortly after the artist's arrival in Japan in 1900. Plate size: 6 1/2" x 4 5/8" with large margins and deckled edges to the laid paper (paper size: 9 3/4" x nearly 8 1/2"). Very good overall condition. Slight toning is evident...

A fine wakizashi in saya of crushed aogai shell in lacquer with engraved silver fittings adorned with a family crest wrapped with matching Kozuka. Kyoto license number 59007 Heisei 9.
blade length: 38.9 cm
sori:0.7 cm
motohaba:2.4 cm
motokasane: 0.6 cm It is in excellent condition.

Edo Period Japanese woodblock print triptych by Kunisada (also known as Toyokuni III) illustrating a scene from the 1951 kabuki production "Genji Moyo Furisode Hinagata" (Dress Patterns in Genji Style). The scene is set in a meadow and features in the left panel the actor Ichikawa Danjuro VIII in the role of the handsome protagonist Lord Ashikaga Jiro (Mitsuuji) engaged in a sword fight...

This antique ivory bookmark is shaped and colored on one side to appear as a woman wearing a kimono. There is a long cord with small pierced ivory ojimi and tassel attached...

An amazing pattern of gold and silver maki-e decorates this lidded Tea Cup and stand dating from the later Edo period decorated with a samurai clan crest in gold. Assembled it is 7 inches (17.5 cm) tall, 6 inches (15.5 cm) diameter and in excellent condition, enclosed in a custom- fitted Kiri-wood box.

A breathtaking cup made from an egg cut and lacquered inside, then gilded with genuine gold, enclosed in the original signed age darkened kiri-wood box. It is 2-1/4 inches (5.5 cm) diameter and in perfect condition, dating from the Meiji period.

A lovely hollowed out root forming a basket; an anonymous 20th century work of Mingei art. It is roughly 18 x 13 x 10 inches (45 x 33 x 25 cm) and in fine condition.

A large and elegant Wa-gumi basket by Yufu Shohaku signed on the base made up of alternating strips of finely braided bamboo rope and bands of raw bamboo. This is a dramatic work measuring 22 x 20 x 14 inches (56 x 50 x 35 cm).
Yufu Shohaku (b. 1941) is a second-generation bamboo artist from Beppu, the son of Yufu Chikuryu, putting him in the lineage of Sato Chikuyusai. Shohaku began making bamboo baskets in elementary school and achieved mastery by middle school...

Two fox representing Inari, one of the principal kami (gods) of Shinto, are depicted on this Edo period talisman made at a shrine and traditionally hung in the home for protection. The two creatures hold in their mouths a buddhist jewel, symbol of knowledge, and a key to the kura, a storehouse for treasures. Between them is written Inari Daimyou Jin. Inari is the Japanese god of fertility, agriculture and of general prosperity and worldly success...

An iron vase intentional rust and damascened silver of a Flat-fish on one side, the other au-natural by Sano Hiroshi exhibited at the 48th Kofukai Tenrankai Exhibition in 1962 and enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Karai (flat-fish). It is 53.5 cm (21 inches) wide, 37 cm (14-1/2 inches) tall and in fine condition.
Sano Hiroshi was born in Jūshiyama, Aichi prefecture in 1930, and graduated the Nagoya Municipal School of Crafts in 1950...

Koma Inu Shrine guardians decorate this unusually vivid Ako carpet dating from the early 20th century. The color combination is quite striking, especially when held up to the more standard subdued works typical of Ako. It is 95 x 195 cm (37-1/2 x 77 inches) and is in stunning condition. We found this wrapped in paper in the attic of a Kyoto home which had been sealed off during renovations in the 1950s...

Antique Japanese Mingei Flat Pounding Board An exquisite patina covers this heavy pounding board from Northern Japan used for working rice into dough. It is 53.5 x 31 x 9 cm (21 x 12 x 3-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition.

A Boro Futon cover textile of sewn together bits of worn out indigo dyed fabric 160 x 204 cm (63 x 80 inches ). Go-haba (five widths)

A Boro cover textile of sewn together bits of worn out Asa (Hemp) fabrics resist died with various patterns. 146 X 163 cm (57-1/2 x 64 inches).

Japanese Edo period woodblock print depicting “The lay priest Ryuen, Uramatsu Kihei Hidenao, behind a rack of kimonos” from the series “Stories of the Faithful Samurai.” The print is signed at the lower left "Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga" (1797-1861). The red Yoshi Kiri seal is beneath the signature. The publisher’s seal and series number is below the artist’s seal. The date seals are above the signature. The series title is at the upper right. The series, published by Ebiya Rinnosuke ...

“I am here” she whispers as the bespectacled gentleman pours the last drops from his bottle and says “I am going home”…a lithograph by Kei Hiraga numbered 50/120 and signed Key Hiraga ’88 with the artist’s seal in red. The paper sheet, matted and framed, measures 50.5 x 42 cm (20 x 16-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition. This is an superb example of his work, showing both his eros and playful nature in the abstracted figuration for which he is most remembered. Included is ...

A striking abstract work in red on silver over textured washi paper embedded with strands of tatami mat by revolutionary artist Hori Kosai signed ‘91 Hori. It is 13 x 23 cm (5 x 9 inches) mounted floating in a modern frame, pigments on hand-made Washi paper. Here is an opportunity to acquire an important abstract Japanese artist as yet entirely unexplored in the west.
Hori Kosai (b. 1947) is a contemporary artist and Lithographer from Toyama prefecture living in Tokyo. He entered the ...

A superb Silk landscape by Akamatsu Unrei enclosed in the original signed double wooden box (niju-bako) titled ChikusoYusei-Ga. The title and style of the buildings indicate this is likely the Yusei retirement home of Iwakura Tomomi in Northern Kyoto, designated a National Historic Site in 1932. A narrow path hedged in soft greens leads to the rustic cluster of buildings with their thatched roofs lost in a sea of bamboo, the scene rising to precipitous mountains afar, a waterway in the distanc...

A skull lies ethereal, only a soft circle before the ghost-like apparition of a grave-marker rising from the boldly stroked dead grasses of some forgotten field. The epitaph above reads:
“Hana no toki mayouta mo” Wavering they did while in full blossom
“Kono Kareno kana” The neglected fields of winter
Here the artist has made a comment on our lives, we blow with the winds here in there, indecisive in our prim, bobbing joyously in the winds, but all come to...

A rush of water descends into mist between the rocky crags tinted with autumns color on this superb silk scroll by Ochi Shokan enclosed in the original signed double wooden box (niju bako) titled Shusei (Voice of Autumn). Top quality, it is mounted in striped silk extended with green and has large solid ivory rollers. The scroll measures 55 x 213 cm (21-1/2 inches x 7 feet). It is in fine condition. Ochi Shokan (1882-1958) was born in Ehime prefecture on the island of Shikoku and studied p...

A superb image by Hirai Baisen depicting the fire lit on the mountains surrounding Kyoto on the final day of Obon enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled “Okuribi”. It is performed with washes of ink and gold on silk, bordered in a fine frame of patterned brocade. It is 22 x 79 inches (56 x 200 cm). It features large ivory rollers, which will need to be changed if shipped outside Japan. There is a wrinkle in the scroll (not a hard crease) through the line of housing (see photo)...

A lightning shaped Narumi-Oribe Mukozuke dish decorated with geometrics and drying persimmons enclosed in a fine custom kiri-wood box titled “E-Oribe Mukozuke” and annotated “Mino Ko-gama” by Living National Treasure Kato Takuo, who was well known for his research into old kilns and firing techniques. One of the best preserved pieces I have seen in a long time dating from the Momoyama to early Edo period.; it originally had three looping feet which have been lost. The dish is 5 x 4-1/4 ...

An Original Albumen Photograph of Yokohama by Felice Beato 1865 Edo Period 11 1/2 x 8 3/8 ins. (29.3 x 21.4 cms) This albumen photograph by the great photographer Felice Beato is catalogued in the Collection of Nagasaki University Library "Japanese Old Photographs of the Bakumatsu/Meiji Period" #777 with the following caption;  Taken by Beato. "Dear Mrs. Kiyota's house near Yokohama on the Kanazawa Road, August 21, 1865 ". A house that looks like a farmhouse, built slightly above the road surr...

By the workshop of the renowned maker Ryubundo (signed Kinryu-do on the bronze lid), this iron tetsubin measures roughly 8 1/4" from tip of spout to other side, and the handle reaches just about 8 1/2" high. The exterior is decorated with a dragon that reaches around the entire pot, in and out of waves and cloudlike forms, the entire surface decorated with these traditional motifs and rock like textures. The bronze lid is 4 1/4" in diameter and has a mottled surface with red and gold colored ...

Large limited edition Japanese lithograph with red sumi-e brush strokes by Toko Shinoda (b. 1913) titled "Fleeting Dream." This early undated image is pencil-signed, titled, and numbered 26/30 in the lower left margin. Paper size: 28 5/8" x 22". This print was never framed and is in excellent overall condition. From a Phoenix, Arizona estate. It was originally purchased from the Tolman Collection.

Large limited edition lithograph with red sumi-e brush strokes by Toko Shinoda (b. 1913) titled "Ancient Song." This early undated image is pencil-signed, titled, and numbered 12/35 at the lower right. The red calligraphy is more vibrant than it appears on the main image. Paper size: 27" x 20 3/4". Very good overall condition. There are three small pieces of linen tape on the reverse top edge. This print is from a Phoenix, Arizona estate. It was originally purchased from the Tolman Collection. ...

Delicate fish scale patterns in gold on bronze lacquer highlight old chips on the rim of this large Yamachawan Tea bowl dating from the Kamakura to early Muromachi periods (12th -15th centuries). Blue glaze twinkles on the heavily eroded surface, where Shizen-yu ash pooled and crystallized. There is a large slash in the glaze where another bowl had been stacked inside, and there are much losses to the surface glazing typical of excavated works. It is this very sense of loss which defines the ...

A very unusual incense burner in the form of two servants holding up Hotei as he looks joyously toward the night sky. It is performed in crackled white glaze over pale clay with simple iron decoration. It comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box bearing the Teishitsu Gigei-in seal titled Ga-korai Hotei Koro indicating it was based on Korean decoration techniques. It is 18.5 x 10 x 14 cm (7-1/2 x 4 x 6 inches) and is in fine condition. He may have originally held a gumbai-fan, which is...

Copper green and dark iron decorate the pale glazed sides of this exquisite box dating from the early Edo period (17th century) wrapped in a silk lined sarasa bag and enclosed in a black lacquered wood box. It is 1-3/4 inches (4.5 cm) square, roughly 3 inches (7 cm) tall and in overall fine condition.

A Tokkuri decorated with an Otsu-e image of a sword bearer and a poem by Otagaki Rengetsu enclosed in a wooden box annotated by the head of Jinkoin Temple and titled Rengetsu-ni saku, Otsu-e Tokkuri, The poem reads:
Furi tate shi As if raising and lowering
mameshi gokoro no his true heart like a standard
hitosuji ni in one line
koyuru ka imo ni will he pass through to meet his love
Osaka no seki. beyond Osaka Gate?
This may be ...

A mellon shaped red-Raku Kogo incense case enclosed in the original signed wooden box by Raku Ryonyu (1756–1834), 9th generation head of the Raku family. It is roughly 2 inches (5 cm) tall and in excellent condition.

Japanese limited edition aquatint etching by Sarah Brayer (b. 1957) depicting a solitary figure walking with a parasol down a snowy village lane titled "Kurodami." The print is pencil-signed, titled, dated ’96, and numbered 74/120 in the bottom margin. Visible paper size: 8 1/2” x 18 1/2” (image: 7 5/8” x 17 3/4”). Original Kanda Gallery frame with non-glare glass measuring 14 1/2” x 24 1/2.” The print has not been examined out of the frame, but no condition problems are visibl...