Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian (459)

This face-sized antique mask of a shaman or Buddhist priest is from Tibet. The hand carving is both delicate and simple, with chisel marks showing on the back of the mask.

This is one of 2 hexagonal shaped tea cannisters which I have listed separately. This one has an incised scene of a mature bird on one side. The other side has 2 sentences from the famous Tang dynasty poem by Lu Tong. The bamboo has darkened considerably with age...

Tibetan snuff bottle with wood body, with decorative silver base and shoulders. The silver work shows a bird with elaborate wing feathers and thin handles on either side of the bottle. The stopper lid is capped with coral and the spoon is also silver. The condition is very good. Bottle measures 3" x 2"

This antique Japanese small drawstring fisherman's bag is woven from hand rolled cording using indigenous natural plant fibers. It would be used for carrying home the catch at the end of day. The bag shows some areas of staining and one small area near the bottom where a few fiber cords have split. these condition areas are to be expected of a folk art item of this age and use. ,,,,,

the bag is roughly 10 x 12 inches and has a generous amount of cording for adjustable straps.

Rare Miao festival top from Lan Dian China 90+ years old covered with various embroidery techniques home spun fabric and in excellent condition

This Buddhist sutra book was from Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. The front and rear wooden covers painted red with random gold paint spatters. The sutra book contains 16 handwritten pages made from palm leaves, which are held between the covers with cord. Measurements 25" x 2"

This is a traditional Qing Dynasty woman's skirt. Chines skirts during this time period were made in 2 sections which were "buttoned" together with "frogs" The skirt was then wrapped around the hips so that the flat sections were displayed at at the front and back....the pleated sections were at draped the sides... The background fabric of this skirt is an unusually fine jacquard silk but the pattern of the jacquard does not show in the pics....the pleated sections of the skirt and also meti...

This Tibetan Priest's rattle is carved from horn and has a bone cap on the end. It was used by the Monk during ceremonial rituals and would have been shaken to ward off evil spirits. This horn was hand carved with many Tibetan Buddist symbols. All the edges are worn smooth with use and repeated handling.

Each band of this pair of very fine silk embroideries have 2 sets mirror images: one set of floral motif and the other set of a couple celebrating. Both sets use satin stitch, french knot (aka forbidden stitch) and couching embroidery techniques. The embroideries are on a background fabric of fine patterned silk which measures 6" by 15". The floral embroidery is 1.5 x 2" and the couple embroidery is 1.5 x 5"...

This pair of Chinese lotus shoes, aka bound feet shoes, have a soft golden color silk vamp. Each side of the shoes is embroidered with the same pattern, and uses satin stitch silk thread.

The embroidery pattern on these lotus shoes has always mystified me. There is a woman and an animal that is possibly intended to be a giraffe. I vaguely remember some bits of information. The Chinese first heard about the African giraffes from verbal and written descriptions...

This antique cast iron 2 piece censer retains much of its original red paint. The inside bottom of the censor bowl is somewhat pitted from use. The chop marks are unrecogizable. The piece is 10 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches high.

This woven Tibetan container would have been used to hold a pair of wooden tea bowls...there is an interior separator (removable) which allows for the separation of tea bowls. Hand made using plant materials (hemp) and rattan with leather closures Bowls would have been packed into container such as this when traveling... and from the condition of this one...it has traveled many times. The container is 6 inches diameter at the top and 4 inches high...well aged fair condition...

During the Qing Dynasty, Chinese court gentlemen and ladies used elaborate hair styles. To assist in these construction of the "hairdo's", they used a wire form was covered with a mesh fabric. This particular "cap" was used to cover a bun of hair on the center of the head. The silver flat "hairpin" was used to hold the cap in place by pushing it through one side hole, between the hair bun and the scalp and through the other side hole. The inside of the cape clearly shows its age and use.

This small Chinese hand made purse would have been made by a woman for her personal use or possibly as a gift to a female friend. It was made using cotton background fabric and hand embroidered with silk thread on each side. The butterfly and floral motifs were made with silk thread using a combination of satin stitches, chain stitches and couching embroidery techniques.

It is a charming example of a Chinese woman's needlework and is in excellent condition...

This old pair of Chinese shoes were made for a small child. Appliqued onto the red cotton background fabric are bits of trim and cotton fabric which give the appearance of a cats face. Gold thread is used in a couching embroidery stitch for the design on the both sides of each shoe.

This Chinese ethnic child's hat has wrapped thread embroidery technique which was used by the Miao the Miao minority. The set of silver ornaments across the from are Buddha images. the The ornament in the back is a stylized butterfly of Miao Legend...the dangle of bells at the back is to scare off evil spirits who would attack the child from the rear..This hat is old and in surprisingly good condition

During the Qing Dynasty, the feathers of the kingfisher bird were used to create ornaments for woman to attach to clothing and/or wear in their hair... Through the 1800's These ornaments were made and formed with heavy paper (light weight cardboard...) They had large areas of feathers and the edges of the paper form were bordered with gold paint...and the ornaments were often domed By the early 1900's the bird were becoming rare almost extinct ...so intricate and smaller sections of fea...

Very Nice patina on this old Tibetan Dorje. It is 7 inches long. The Tibetan Dorje is the equivalent of the India Buddhist symbol of Vajra or Thunderbolt which represents the masculine force....