Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian (196)

Large porcelain charger decorated in underglaze blue with a map of Japan, as drawn in the Edo period. The map (Gyoji type) shows the main islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, divided into the 63 provinces. The names of the provinces are written in kanji. Here and there a name of a city (i.e. Edo) is added.
The main islands of Japan are surrounded by several islands (names written partly or entirely in katakana) and real and imaginary countries, such as Choseon, the Ryukyus, the country of the small people and the country where women rule.
The sea is indicated by stylized waves. Around the islands are stylized clouds and on top and bottom fly crane-like birds.
Outside rim decorated with meandering flowering vines. Five spur marks. 6-mark seal within foot: Honcho Tenpo nensei.
Japan, Hizen, Mikawachi, 1830s-1840s or slightly later (but still Edo period).

Diameter 16 inches, H 2.25 inches (Diam. 40.6 cm, H 5.7 cm).

Condition excellent.

Large incense burner made for a Buddhist temple. Square format with beautiful curves and two handles on the upper rim. Cast bronze with brown patina (sentoku), the shoulder decorated with butterflies in the clouds, done in gold and silver nunome zogan and silver wire inlay.

Japan, Edo period, 19th century

H 8.5 x W 11.75 x 11.5 in.

Unfortunately badly abused as a planter, causing water damage on the patina on the outside, and with numerous small and unobtrusive dents. Some of the gold on the butterfly wings damaged.Legs have been removed and are lost. In spite of that, a magnificent piece decorated in a technique commonly used among the dexterous makers of sword fitting.

Set of three large identical keman, made of gilt bronze. Decorative hangings from a Buddhist temple.

Each keman is fan-shaped (or perhaps boar's eye-shaped) with a design of two pairs of double chrysanthemum family crests set between karakusa (winding weeds) in openwork. The knotted cord in the center is executed in gilt bronze repoussé (hollow underneath). The openwork design is very carefully executed, with engraved details and nanako ground.
The ‘saddles’ are decorated with kiku-mon between karakusa, in low relief.

From the bottom of each keman three solid brass balls are suspended, which may be original, or may be replacements for streamers.

The family crests each contain a 16-petaled chrysanthemum, two of which hold a double plum blossom in the center. The double chrysanthemum could point to a family relation with the imperial family. The keman were probably hanging in a family temple.

Japan, Edo period, 19th century.

H 10.75 x W 14 in. (27.8 x 35.6 cm).
H incl. ring and balls 15 in. (38.1 cm)

Some of the eyelets from which the balls were dangling are broken, gilding rubbed (on the reverse the gilding is better preserved than on the front), otherwise excellent condition.

A Buddhist shrine, made for a temple, containing the 8-armed, weapon-bearing goddess Benten; her head adorned with a gilt bronze crown in the shape of a Shinto gate, decorated with birds, sun and moon, and beads. On the top of her head sits the snake-bodied water deity Ugajin. Behind her head a circular mandorla with three flaming jewels. Benten sits on a double lotus throne, placed on top of a rock formation.
The figure and the lotus dais are made in wood with gilding over red lacquer, with details in gold and black. Eyes are in reverse-painted glass or crystal. The crown, the mandorla, and most of the weapons in gilt metal. The rock formation in polychromed wood over gesso inlaid with semi-precious stones and/or glass. Japan, Edo period, circa 1800.

Shrine measurements: H 20.5 x W 14 x D 11.5 inches

Zushi: one hinge missing the vertical pin, otherwise very good condition. Statue: Damage to one hand and to the foot, some cracks and lacquer chips commensurate to age and use. All in all excellent, original condition.

Benten in the 8-armed appearance (happi Benzaiten) is a defender of Buddhism and protector of the nation. This is her appearance as described in the Sutra of Golden Light. According to the sutra, she is supposed to hold in her hands bow and arrow, sword and ax, spear and pestle, and iron wheel (rin) and rope. In statues, the objects vary and over time, objects related to wealth and well-being came to replace the original ones, such as the wish-granting jewel and the key to the storehouse.
Benzaiten with Ugajin on top of her head is Uga Benzaiten, goddess of wealth and good fortune, mostly connected to Shintoism.
In this zushi, Benten holds sword and wish-granting jewel, arrows and (missing) bow, key and lotus, and pestle and halberd. Her function has started to shift with the needs and the taste of the times, incorporating the two prominent religions in Japan.

Nichiren Buddhist shrine containing a sculpture of Kishimojin in demonic appearance, her hands folded in prayer. Kishimojin, or Kishibojin, or Kariteimo, is a complex deity. Originally, she was a demon who stole and killed other people’s children in order to feed her numerous own children. After Buddha Shakyamuni made her see how she made people suffer, she repented and devoted herself to protecting all children. Instead of the flesh of children, she fed her own children pomegranate henceforth.
Women pray to her as the goddess of easy delivery, child rearing, for harmony between husband and wife, love, and for the well-being of the family. Childless women also pray to Kishimojin in the hope of becoming pregnant.

Wood sculpture with beautifully painted details. Eyes inlaid in glass or crystal.
Japan, Edo period, circa 1800.
H of case 12 inches.
Excellent condition. Case doors slightly warped

Large zushi, made on order for a temple, containing a seated group of En no Gyoja, the father of Shugendo, with his two attendants Zenki and Goki inside a cave. En no Gyoja is sitting with a staff in his right hand, and a hand scroll in his left. The two attendants are crouched before him. The green attendant (Goki) holds a ewer and a stick to ring a bell or mokugyo; the red disciple (Goki) holds an axe.
Wood with polychrome and gold color over gesso, eyes reverse-painted glass or crystal, staff of En no Gyoja gilded bronze.

Japan, Edo period, circa 1800

Measurements zushi H 21 x W 13 x D 9.5 inches

Extremely rare subject matter

En no Gyoja was a 7th century mountain ascetic. He is considered to be the father of Shugendo, a sect in which Shinto and pre-Buddhist mountain worship blends with Tantric Buddhist rituals. Physical endurance, such as seclusion, fasting, meditation, engaging in austerity, is seen as the path to Enlightenment. Practitioners are called Shugenja or Shugyosha, and Yamabushi. Amalgamations of Shinto and Buddhism were forbidden at the Meiji restauration and the Shugendo sect was banned in 1872. Its existing places of worship were either transformed to Shinto shrines or became branches of Shingon or Tendai Buddhism.

A large mask in the form of the face of an oni (demon) that typically would hang in the kitchen or in a temple, to ward off evil spirits. A slit in the back is for hanging the mask from the wall.

Wood with remnants of polychrome pigments red, white and grayish black.

Japan, late Edo period (18th/19th century).

H mask 13 in.; H with stand 18.5 x W 9.75 in.

Mounted on a stand, sitting on a pole that has been inserted through the chin of the mask. Also metal wire across the back for hanging (attached with two small nails behind the ears).

Color pigments strongly rubbed, various scrapes and chafes, material cracks and some old damage

Highly unusual Buddhist shrine with the image of a horse looking back. The horse has a ‘brocade’ cover over his back and is standing behind a mesh wire fence, the way they would be kept in temple compounds.

Polychromed wood with some gold details. The roof of the shrine is a separate piece and can be detached, which allows for taking apart the zushi.

Japan, Meiji period, 19th century.
Height of zushi ca. 7.8 inches (19.5 cm).

Frontal golden curtain dislodged due to warping, but still with the zushi; one door lost its hinge-functions (top and bottom pin broken off, triangular splinter on right door on last photo), paint on brocade cover of horse chipping and fragile.

This piece needs to be seen as a form of ema, which were offered to temples and shrines as a calling to the deity. In the Shinto religion, horses are intermediaries between this world and the gods. The horse is seen to be used by various deities, for example Benzaiten.

Tall and slender vase of heishi-shape made of fine, light brown stoneware, covered in a multi color purple flambé glaze. Over this in mostly white enamel a scene is painted of a large, partially deconstructed/built up skeleton, tied to sticks, and a host of small skeletons dancing and running around it between small clouds of gold dots.

The shoulder of the vase decorated in blue, white and greenish enamels and gold with leaf-like shapes, meandering lines and dots.

Unsigned. Japan, Meiji era or later? The vase itself may be earlier than the enamel decoration

H 15 in. (38 cm)

Excellent condition

Previously in the “Memento mori” collection of Richard Harris, Chicago. The collection was on display at several locations, under the title “The Death, A Self-portrait” (2012/13 London) and “Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection” (2012 Chicago)

One-sided orihon accordion album with 12 paintings. 10 images of man-woman scenes, one rape scene, one scene with a woman with dildo.
Paintings in black ink, mineral colors (some with gold), and gofun on silk.
The covers are bound in silk brocade, with a small silk sumie painting of a heron on the front cover, by way of a title slip.
Paintings unsigned, but in the style of Tomioka Eisen (1864–1905).
Japan, Meiji era, around 1900.

Album 11.25 x 14.75 inches
Paintings 9.5 x 13.5 inches

Paintings with a few small spots, some wear (rubbing, missing spots) at upper margins of some paintings, but all in all in excellent condition. Covers with some wear around the corners, but all in all in fine condition.

Comes in blue Chinese wrapper in fair condition.

Very unusual figure of the Kigyo Kishimojin, standing with a baby in her arms, holding up a pomegranate in her right hand. In this form she represents the protector of children.
Almost abstracted wooden figure with dark patina. The mouth painted red, the eyes inlaid with glass or crystal painted with gold in reverse technique, the pomegranate made of a red kernel.

This is a very rare appearance, a kind of in-between form between the child robbing and devouring monster and the transformed and enlightened mother feeding on fruit and vegetables.

Japan, 19th century.

Height case: 13 inches (32.5 cm).

Figure in very good condition with one worm hole and tiny chip at seam at face. Base with repaired boulder. Case basically in fine condition with beautiful hardware on shrine.

Kishimojin, or Kishibojin, or Kariteimo, is a complex deity. Originally, she was a demon who stole and killed other people's children in order to feed her numerous own children. After Buddha Shakyamuni made her see how she made people suffer, she repented and devoted herself to protecting all children. Instead of the flesh of children, she fed her own children pomegranate henceforth.
Women pray to her for easy delivery, child rearing, for harmony between husband and wife, love, and for the well-being of the family. Childless women also pray to Kishimojin in the hope of becoming pregnant.

Circular hand shrine, or zushi, in two halves. Inside, one half shows the bodhisattva Kokuzo carved in relief with a sword in the right (to cut through ignorance) and a wish-granting jewel in his left hand. He sits on a lotus base, placed on a rock. Details of the carving and the background painted in gold, black, red and malachite green. The other half shows a lotus pond, a rock and a cloudy sky painted in delicate lines of gold and silver, heightened with black. The outside of the zushi is left undecorated.

Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.
Diameter: ca. 1.75 inches (4.4 cm).
Scarf tip on the right side of figure missing, tiny unimportant restoration, otherwise very good condition.

Comes with a custom made wooden stand.

Fairly large zushi hand shrine in the shape of a lotus petal. Double sided, made of sandalwood.
Inside each half is a deep relief carving of Buddhist deities. On one side the three-eyed Aizen Myoo with a lion crown, sitting on a lotus base in the clouds before a red mandorla. His six hands hold Vajra and ghanta, bow and arrow, and lotus bud and pouch. On the other side the two-armed Kannon bosatsu, holding a lotus bud in the left hand, sitting on a lotus base in the clouds. Inside decorated in gold, red, blue and black for details, green mineral color for the background.
The outside decorated in gold lacquer over a black lacquer ground: loose lotus petals and a bonji on each side (one bonji probably for Fugen and one bonji A (for Amida)).
Japan, Edo period, around 1800.

H ca. 3-7/8 inches

Inside in excellent condition with minimal abrasions of the blue in the hair and of the green background pigment. Black lacquer on the outside with some losses. Above the bonji for Fugen (?) a restoration. Wood a bit warped.

Rare

Large shrine, zushi, made on special order for a temple. Inside, right in front of the back wall is a silk covered panel. Towards the bottom of the panel, on a gold background, are painted Fugen Bosatsu on his companion the elepahant, and Monju Bosatsu, sitting on the back of his companion the tiger. Above them, set in the center of a red painted circle is a circular crystal reliquary, sitting on a gilt bronze lotus dais, surrounded by gilt bronze flames, forming the wish granting jewel hojugata.
The reliquary has two shelves, filled with various smaller and larger relics of the historical Buddha, Shaka Nyorai. In the back wall of the zushi, behind the reliquary, is a double door, which can be opened to reveal the reliquary or to lighten the reliquary. The sides of the zushi are covered in gold lacquer. The hinges on the doors are decorated with a manji motive on the inside.
The outside of the zushi is covered in black lacquer, with gold lacquer bands around the edges of the doors and following the contours of the roof. In the center of the roof, in gold lacquer a fully opened lotus flower. The golden band along the edges of the doors is decorated with flowers. The hinges on the outside engraved with meandering flower patterns.
Japan, Edo period, 18th century

H ca. 14.5 in.; W ca. 8 in.

Very fine craftsmanship. Few traces of usage, all in all excellent, original condition.

Very rare piece

The reliquary represents the Buddha Shakyamuni; he is flanked by the bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen, forming the Shaka triad. The combination of the wish granting jewel and the relics of the Buddha originates in esoteric Buddhism.

A long horizontal handscroll with ten individual hand-painted shunga scenes, of couples in the act of lovemaking. The focus is on the couples and their actions; there is no background. One couple uses a dildo. For as far as anyone wears a garment, those are decorated in fine details.

Signature at the end of the scroll, on the far-left side: Yamato-e Miyagawa Choshun zu. Gourd-shaped red seal: Choshun.

Very fine and detailed paintings in black ink, mineral colors and gofun (pulverized calcified shells) on paper. The hair and some of the garments are painted in black lacquer which has a sheen to it. The photos show the hair as gray, which is a light reflection. In reality, the hair is jet black.

The scroll consists of four pieces, joined together and laid down on thin Japanese backing paper for stability. Wooden scroll knobs. Comes with a futomaki, protective roll.

Japan, Edo period, 18th century

Height 10.75 inches, length ca. 130 inches.

More photos available upon request

Condition:
Missing areas along the lower edge, mostly in the first quarter of the scroll, few small missing spots and areas throughout the scroll, and restored tears. All of this stabilized by the background paper.

Provenance: Private collection Portland, OR, purchased from Brodney Gallery in Boston, MA

Miyagawa Choshun (ca 1683-1752) was a painter in the ukiyo-e style, founder of the Miyagawa school of painting. He lived and worked most of his life in Edo. Early on, he was influenced stylisticly by Hishikawa Moronobu, borrowing groups of figures from Moronobu’s paintings. He painted in hanging scroll format and created hand scrolls. He did not design woodblock prints.

Very rare cast bronze sculpture of the Chinese monk Xuanzang with a pile of Buddhist scriptures rolled up and stacked in the pack on his back and a lotus leaf over his head from which dangles an incense burner, as he returns to China from India.
In his hands he was holding a scroll and a fly whisk that are now missing. Figure stands on an irregularly shaped base. Japan, mid Edo period, 18th century.
Height incl. base ca. 5.25 inches (13.3 cm).
Hands slightly damaged.

Genjo Sanzo (Chin. Xuangzang) was a monk who went to India. Founder of the Hanya sect. He usually appears as one of the sixteen good spirits, rarely by himself.

Wooden figure of a lion, companion to Fugen bosatsu. On his back he carries a lotus base, on which Fugen used to sit (figure missing). The lion stands on high and slightly stiff legs, each foot positioned on a small lotus base.
The figure has been carved out of several blocks of wood that were subsequently assembled into the final figure. This technique is called yosegi saiku and was widely used for complex sculptures like these. The tail is stuck into the back, remaining loose. The lotus base on the back is made is in two segments, loosely inserted into the back with a wooden peg.
The rather folky character of it makes it an extremely charming piece.

Japan, Muromachi period, 15/16th century.

Height 17 ½ in., length 21 in., depth 6 ½ in. (44.5 x 53 x 17 cm).

Some edges of the different blocks chipped, chip to lotus base, chips to the tips of mane on head and to hair tufts at legs, all commensurate with age. All in all in very good and stable condition.

Large two-door shrine holding inside the figure of Kujaku Myoo sitting on a lutus dais on the back of a peacock. Kujaku means peacock and is revered for transmuting the "poisons" of greed and anger and for eliminating karmic hindrances. The peacock (in India) eats poisonous plants and snakes and is thus thought to guard against evils from poisoning or calamity. Kujaku has four arms, holding a pomegranate, peacock feather, and either a lotus flower or a Buddha-fruit (one attribute is missing). Wooden carving decorated in colors and gold, jewelry and one attribute in metal. Bottom dated Kaei 5 (1852) and inscribed with maker’s name. Japan.

H zushi 16-1/2 inches.

Colors on peacock chipped (touched up), gilding on feathers that form the halo and on the garment brittle and flaking, white pigment on Kujaku with chips and small cracks, one attribute to Kujaku missing, some of the crown missing. All damages consistent with usage and age. All in all good condition.