Painted wood.Attributed to the workshop of Etuobe, Meku village, Ketu region. H. 32,5 cm. Mid 20th century. Ex coll. Ursula Voorhuis (1932-2021), The Netherlands Guy van Rijn Archive: ao-0110581-001

A fabulous mid Edo period bronze brazier with satin luster made up of a basin supported by four small rabbits with two small gourd shaped handles suspended from a belt of archaic designs. The top is a large dome pierced with geometric designs known as incense clock patterns and featuring a large hinged circular opening in front. It is 22 cm diameter, 34.5 cm tall (8-1/2 x 13-1/2 inches) and in excellent condition...

Obviously these two masks from the Nuo theater belong to the minorities of southern China. They constitute a set probably designed simultaneously by the same artist. One of the masks represents the monk Heshang and the second represents the jester Quintong. These masks date from at least the middle of the 20th century, that is to say about a hundred years. H 24 and 26 cm, presented on a metal base. More information and pictures on request

A Pwo Karen woven unmarried woman's attire with embroidered diamond-shaped pattern . Condition: partially little stained. Dimension: c. 132 x 59 cm. Please refer to "Peoples of the Golden Triangle: Six Tribes in Thailand" by Paul and Elaine Lewis, pages 74 - 75. Provenance: Private Swiss Collection.

A set of five small porcelain tea cups made by Takahashi Dohachi with decoration design by famous literati artist Tomioka Tessai. Each cup is 5.5 cm diameter, 4 cm tall and all are in excellent condition. They come in an age darkened wooden box titled Dohachi Saku Sometsuke Sencha Chawan.
Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924) was a scholar artist trained from age seven in the traditional Confucian manner...

A set of Mandarin squares, comprising a front and a back, dating around 1900. Insignia for a court official's wife, with appliqued silver pheasant bird, denoting the fifth rank. Gold and silver metallic threads couched on violetta silk, lined with blue silk. Condition: traces of age, little faded, back badge with short tear (please see photo # 10), lining little stained. Dimension: 25.5 cm x 28.2 cm.

Rare Chinese Song Dynasty Zoomorphic Water Pot with Dragon Handle

This very rare vessel, a water pot, was made during the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1127). The vessel is zoomorphic being in the form of a recumbent animal with four legs/feet tucked under its body. Where an animal's head would be is a wide circular pouring spout. The applied handle is in the form of a dragon...

Fine Large Chinese Qianlong 18th Century Imari Porcelain Dish

This fine-quality porcelain dish with attractive floral pattern in underglaze blue, red enamel and gilding, was made during the 18th century, most likely during the Qianlong reign (1736 - 1795). There is a brown iron wash around the rim edge to prevent "fritting" of the glaze during firing. There is no restoration or repair, no cracks and the dish has a good ring when tapped; it is in fine condition...

Large Chinese Qianlong 18th Century Blue & White Porcelain Dish / Charger

This fine-quality porcelain dish was made during the 18th century, most likely during the Qianlong reign (1736 - 1795). It has a particularly attractive underglaze blue pattern featuring a pagoda upon a hill overlooking a river on which sail four boats, together with hills, mountains, rocks, trees and flower blossoms. The wide border is decorated with an elaborate floral and geometric pattern...

Fine Large Chinese Qianlong Blue & White Porcelain Dish / Charger

This dish was made in the 18th century, during the Qianlong reign (1735 - 1796) of the Qing Dynasty. The underglaze blue decoration features a delicately drawn garden scene featuring bamboo, blossoms and a bird in flight. An elaborate floral pattern surrounds the border. Iron-brown has been painted around the rim edge to prevent fritting of the glaze.

Diameter 39 cm (15.25)...

Chinese Jin Dynasty Painted Pottery Filial Piety Tile - Aunt of Lu

This fine moulded pottery tile was made during the Jin Dynasty (AD 1115 - 1234) and was most likely excavated from Shanxi province. It is made from a relatively highly-fried grey pottery. Note the detail of the figures and the horse, even the banners and flag held by the rider...

Chinese Jin Dynasty Pottery Filial Piety Tile - Wang Wuzi

This moulded pottery tile was made during the Jin Dynasty (AD 1115 - 1234) and was most likely excavated from Shanxi province. It is made from a relatively highly-fried grey pottery. Filial piety was, and still is, an important part of Chinese culture. This tile depicts a scene from one of the twenty-four paragons of filial piety, that of Wang Wuzi:

Wang Wuzi lived in the Tang dynasty...

Chinese Tang Dynasty Pottery Guardian Figure on Bull

This attractive pottery figure was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is made from a creamy-white pottery and depicts a guardian figure standing on top of a recumbent ox or bull. The figure is wearing elaborate armoured clothing and a helmet.

It is quite a large figure with a height of 30.5 cm (12 inches)...

Tall Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Warrior

This interesting pottery figure of a warrior or soldier was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is made from a pale grey pottery that has been cold-painted in various coloured pigments. Note the detail of the armoured clothing and the facial features.

It is quite an imposing figure with a height of 35.5 cm (14 inches)...

Rare Chinese Western Han Dynasty Bronze Cauldron / Jar

This domestic bronze cooking vessel was made during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8) or possibly earlier. The bottom half is semi-spherical, designed to sit in a fire; indeed there are still remains of carbon deposits to the base...

Rare Chinese Western Han Dynasty Small Bronze Ding

This bronze tripod vessel (ding) was made during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8). The vessel stands on three simple short legs and has two sturdy handles on opposing sides. The vessel is holed in places and has fairly heavy corrosion, mostly azurite (blue), but also malachite (green) and cuprite (brown). Across the base is the mould casting line. Diameter 13.25 cm.

For information: this vessel is one of many items from a late pr...

Rare Large Chinese Tang Dynasty Bronze Bowl

This large bronze bowl was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is quite thin, made by the spinning technique as opposed to having been cast (see below for more information). It has a convex base. Around the inner surface there are several double bands of incised lines. There are also bands of lightly incised lines to the outer surface below the rim although this mostly obscured by the corrosion. There is malachite corrosion to the surf...

Chinese Han Dynasty Glazed Pottery Bowl with Dragon Handle

This rare and unusual pottery vessel was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is made from a buff-coloured pottery, relatively highly-fired, having a distinct ring to it when tapped. The outer surface of the bowl is decorated with a surrounding groove below the rim, but its most interesting feature is its handle in the form of the head of a dragon. It is coated in a green glaze that has degraded over time and has in plac...

Chinese Han Dynasty Glazed Pottery Hill Jar (repaired)

This pottery vessel was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is made from a reddish pottery and, of course, gets its name from its cover that depicts seventeen peaks, interspersed with floral and small circular patterns. The vessel stands on three sturdy legs, each in the form of a bear. Its outer wall is further decorated with a pair of taotie mask handles and bands of surrounding grooves. Both the inner and outer surfaces ...

A breathtaking pair of 19th century (Meiji period) sake cups decorated with hawks stored in silk pouches and enclosed in a red lacquered period wood box. In the basin two hawks, one perched in a pine accented with inlayed mother of pearl, the other soaring high overhead, are depicted in minute detail in raised gold designs. Opposite waves crash over rocks speckled with solid gold lichen. The cups are 10.5 cm (4-1/4 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.

An accordion album featuring calligraphy and paintings by various well known Zen priests of the first half of the 20th century. Including the opening there are 30 pages. The book is 22 x 31 cm and in overall fine condition. The opening pages are by Kutsu Deiryu (Izawa Kanshu 1895-1954, head priest of Kaiseiji), the famous protégé of Nakahara Nantenbo. It is followed by;
1. Daruma by Goto Zuigan, 1878-1965, Myoshinji, Daitokuji
2. Mineo Daikyu, 1860-1954, (head priest of Myoshi...

Chinese Song / Yuan Dynasty Buddhist Pottery Zodiac Animal - Horse

This unusual pottery model of a horse, one of the twelve animals of the Chinese calendrical cycle, was made in the 12th - 13th century, during either the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279) or the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1279 - 1368). It is made from a relatively highly-fired grey pottery with the details having been individually sculpted as opposed to having been formed by a mould. It has been excavated from a Buddhist site in Yunnan prov...

Rare Chinese Five Dynasties / Early Song Dynasty Incised Jar / Water Pot

This round stoneware jar was made in the 10th Century, either during the Five Dynasties period (AD 906 - 960) or during the early part of the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279). The wall is decorated with an incised repeating petal design. It is coated in a pale greenish glaze that is very finely-crackled and that falls of short of the base revealing the pale grey body.

Height 9cm, diameter 12cm. It is in fine condition a...

Pine Tray with Kintsugi gold and silver lacquer repairs featuring an intricate depiction of a butterfly in silver and gold maki-e flying around a pool formed of the natural dark and light wood grain. Splits on both ends are perfectly joined with inset wood “Butterflies”. Cracks have been filled with gold and silver creating streaks of light on the aged wood surface. It is 34 x 24 x 2.5 cm (roughly 14 x 10 x 2 inches) and comes in a period wood box titled Jidai Matsu ki-ji (Old Pine Wood) ...

Seven Chinese Late Ming Blue & White Bowls Fused Together

This stack of seven complete, plus fragments of two, blue & white porcelain bowls dates to the late Ming Dynasty / 17th Century. They have been excavated from a kiln site. The bowls have fairly wide bases apart from the remains of the top item that seems to be a smaller dish with a smaller foot. Something drastic clearly occurred during firing; presumably the temperature was allowed to get too high and the stack of bowls sagged and fu...

A stunning delicate cup made from a hollowed egg-shell. Inside is matte-black with patches of gold gilding, while outside the silhouettes of pines and a soaring Hototogisu (cuckoo) are deftly brushed with shiny black lacquer. The imagery instantly calls to mind Japanese poetry, which extols the song of the cuckoo, a harbinger of Spring and warmer weather. There is also something melancholy about the cuckoo call, as they are always deep in the forest, out of sight and alone. This is simply a p...

Large Chinese Ming Dynasty Blue & White Porcelain Dish - Phoenix

This blue & white "Swatow" (or "Zhangzhou") porcelain dish was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is coated in a thick glaze and decorated in underglaze blue. The pattern features a standing phoenix surrounded by foliage and blossoms which include the peony and bamboo, the phoenix symbolising peace and prosperity, the peony riches, love, affection and beauty and the bamboo longevity. The underside...

Rare Chinese Song Dynasty Pottery Tile (Two Figures)

This rare and unusual pottery tile was made during the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279). It features two standing officials, each having been impressed into the clay. Height 26.5cm, width 24cm, depth 5cm. Some wear and old chips to the edges but no repair or restoration.

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Rare Chinese Han Dynasty Burnished Pottery Bowl

This attractively-shaped bowl of rare form was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is made from a fine-grained grey pottery and has a small foot and flared rim. The surface has been burnished smooth and its colour varies from pale to dark grey, a result of uneven conditions in the kiln during firing.

Diameter 15 cm. Condition is very good; there is a small chip to the rim edge but there is no repair or restoration

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A Chinese silk brocade fabric showing a pattern repeat of lotus flowers. Lampas weaving with aniline dyed and gold wrapped silk threads. Condition: a hole (see photo no. 8), partial thin areas and some wear. Dimension: 67 cm wide (whole length) x 165 cm long.

Chinese Tang Dynasty Glazed Pottery Groom Figure (12")

This pottery figure was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is "heavily-potted" and made from a pale pinkish-coloured pottery that is relatively highly-fired. The body is coated in an attractive golden yellow / amber glaze that is very finely-crackled. In places the surface has acquired a silvery iridescence, a result of long burial in damp conditions. The unglazed surfaces, the head and legs, have been "cold painted" in colo...

Chinese Qing dynasty lacquered wood guardian figure standing on a square base with arms raised and his left black boot resting on a thin circular object embedded in the square platform. He is dressed in elaborately decorated animal head armour painted in red, blue, and black polychrome pigments with fine gilt highlights. 15 7/8" high. 19th century. Sturdy and in very good overall condition. There is some peeling and wear to the surface of the base and there is a loss to the celestial ribbon...

A rare large piece of Edo period Fushina Yaki pottery in the form of a parallelogram shaped box decorated on all sides with landscapes, including what is likely a view of Matsue castle, home of the Matsudaira clan. On hte lid cranes soar between garden rock formations. Inside a SEa Turtle, said to live 1000 years, occupies the center. Called a Jikiro, these types of large containers were used for serving and storing prepared foods. More commonly associated with tea, large works like this from...

Large Japanese Meiji period rounded square form black lacquered wood deep tray decorated in gold and polychrome accents with three birds among flowers and bamboo above a stream at the bottom. The rim is gold. 14 3/4" square with a lip nearly 2 1/4" high. Late 19th to early 20th century. Very good overall condition with only a few fine scratches on the back and a few tiny dings on the top edge. From the collection of a Japanese woman in Tucson, Arizona.

Large Chinese Qing dynasty porcelain wash basin decorated in underglaze blue with leafy vines and sweet pea flowers set against a white ground with a pale blue tint. The exterior holds three flying bats. There are small amounts of kiln grit adhering to the unglazed foot rim. The base is glazed. 13 3/8” diameter x about 4 1/2” high. 19th century. Very good overall condition with typical minor production imperfections. This type of decoration with a sweet pea floral background was produc...

Large & Rare Chinese Ming Dynasty Blue & White Enamelled Porcelain Bowl - Buddhist

This large blue & white "Swatow" (or "Zhangzhou") porcelain bowl was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty.

Swatow, or Zhangzhou, ceramics were often exported to the South East Asian market; this particular example was excavated in present-day Cambodia. A common feature of such ware is the sand / kiln grit that adheres to the glaze on the underside as they were placed on sand in th...