Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian (321)

Small beehive-form pot is covered in a rich, lustrous copper-red glaze that drains to a pale celadon tone on one side. The interior is glazed white with the glaze crackles being highlighted by ink staining from long term use. The copper has drained from the mouth leaving the often seen attractive white ring. The glaze stops at the beginning of the foot which though left unglazed has burnt a pale orange tone in the firing. The foot has kiln grit adhering to it from the sandy clay pad on which it was fired. The base is glazed and has a pale celadon tone. This piece has seen much use and there are areas of old ink residue around the mouth and interior. The potting of the mouth is slightly uneven but not damaged.

Purchased in Japan in the 1970s

Height: 2 in.; Diameter: 2 1/8 in.

This white jade is of an even pale celadon-white tone with a few small veins of light russet. It is carved in the form of a six-lobed melon standing upright and supported by four large leaves that emanate from a vine that runs beneath it. The vine is carved all the way through and flattened on the bottom to provide a stable surface for the stone to stand vertically. This white jade has an overall soft, even polish and is in good condition. Acquired in Charleston, South Carolina in the mid 1980s.

Height: 2 in., Width: 1 ¼ in.

Round, footed bowl-form base and tapering stepped lid are heavily cast in bronze and then finished by lathe-turning to enhance the concentric stepped pattern on the lid and the incised rings encircling the base. The bronze retains its natural patina from age and use. There are areas of reddish-brown and small patches or verdigris on the exterior. The interior of the lid shows overall verdigris with numerous patches of brown encrustation. The interior of the bowl is blackish with turquoise verdigris on the base and along the rim. The interior of the tall foot is encrusted with a variegated patina. The stupa shape suggests a religious function as an offering vessel on a family or temple altar. Containers like this one may also have been used for spices or cosmetics.

Height: 5 in.; Diameter: 3 ¼ in.

Originally mounted as a fan and later remounted on a fusuma sliding door or folding screen. Probably produced in a Kyoto fan workshop by one of a number of Nara ehon picture book painters that migrated to Kyoto from Nara.

Condition is good considering age and original use as a fan, some surface wear to pigments, slight smudging, losses to gilding, light creases and wrinkles, old backing from door or screen mounting remains

Overall size: 8 x 20 in. (max. length)

This large and heavy bronze vase has thick walls and prominent relief decoration overall, including crests on the central portion of the body. The form is in the archaistic Chinese style with motifs adapted to Japanese taste. It retains its old yellowish-brown patina which darkens on the interior. The overall condition is good, having some wear to the foot and some light verdigris. The interior has patches of lighter colored incrustations. It is inscribed on the base with the donor's name.

Height: 11 3/8 in., Width: 9 ½ in. sq.
Weight: 20 pounds.

This circular-form lidded box is of a type found widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia as a Chinese trade item exchanged for spices, pearls, precious metals produced by the various foreign island cultures. Small boxes such as this one were possibly intended for cosmetics or spice storage. This box is painted with a stylized flower on the lid surrounded by a hastily-painted leaf border. The base is likewise painted with two abstract floral designs. It is glazed overall with a clear glaze of slightly grayish tone. The footring is unglazed revealing the porcelain paste. The general condition is good however there are a few tiny old chips from use and some crackled areas to the glaze. There is a small glaze skip to the lid rim and general soiling from use or burial.

Height: 2 3/8 in.; Diameter: 3 ¼ in.

Signed Kunitoshi Ga in a red cartouche with date: 1881 and publisher’s information in yellow cartouche, good impression, excellent color, very light soiling, upper corners thin with remnants of paper attachments, not backed, margins trimmed right and bottom.

Oban tate-e: 9 ½ x 14 in.

This jade tube is a celadon green with lighter inclusions that create mountain landscape-like patterns throughout. It has a soft even polish overall, including the interior and it is slightly translucent when held to the light. There are a few small nicks and minor abrasions to the rims, but it is in generally good condition. The interior is cut slightly off-center.

Height: 3 ¾ in., Diameter: 2 1/8 in.

The deep red lacquer is thickly applied to a wooden base and carved in high relief. The slightly domed lid is carved with a garden scene consisting of pavilions and scholars in a landscape of thick foliage, trees, various rocks and a small bridge. The sides of the box are carved all around with a repeating floral design and the base is carved overall with diamond shaped florets. Minor cracking from age is present on the lid and around the sides of the box often seen on 17th and 18th century wares. Two corners on the sides of the lid appear to have restoration to the vertical edges. The raised lip on the interior bottom shows considerable wear and loss to one end. There is wear on the base and on the interior that is consistent with age and use. The lacquer work is generally in good condition for its age.

Length: 6 ¾ in., Width: 5 ¼ in., Height: 2 ¼ in.

Deep, translucent cobalt glass in good condition.

Diameter: 2 7/8 in. ext., 2 ¼ in. int.

This pendant is carved in the shape of a peach and pomegranate in an orange-toned semi-translucent stone, having a slightly reddish tone toward the flower end of the pomegranate. The carving is of flattened low-relief form and the stone has a fairly high polish that has mellowed somewhat from wear. Good condition.

Length: 1 ¼ in., Width: 1 in., Thickness: up to ¼ in.

The pendant is formed from sheet silver with a repousse design of a man riding a fu lion amid a floral background on one side and the other side with Chinese characters surrounded by flowers. The work is very well-executed in high relief and minute detail. The chain is fashioned from round soldered links suspended from which there are two bells on smaller chains. The bells are of spherical form and are covered with incising. On the side of the pendant, there is a small slot presumably for a key that is now missing. The pendant is not a functioning lock, however. The condition is very good overall, though there is oxidation clearly evident from being in its original, unpolished state.

Pendant width: 3 in.; Height: 2 ¼ in.; Thickness: ½ in.; Chain length: 14 ½ in.

Carved from a jade-like hardstone (possibly serpentine). Rectangular form with a slightly raised grinding surface bordered by a narrow, raised perimeter with a carved depression for water at the top end. Very good condition with no cracks. There is some wear to the grinding surface and to the base. Old patina with old light soiling.

4 ½ in. x 3 3/8 in. x ¾ in.

This yatate, or traveler's pen case, is made of wrought brass, and has a long tube to hold the brush and a deep pot for the ink, which would have been saturated in a cotton wad. The lid snaps snugly over the pot to contain the ink, and a tab connected to the lid covers the end of the tube that contains the brush. A logo is inscribed on the tab in the form of a hiragana ya beneath a roof-shaped mark. A brass loop for attachment is still intact on the tube near the ink pot. The opposite end of the tube ends in a brass ball. There are a few small nicks and scratches from use, as would be expected, but it is generally in very good condition.

Length: 8 ¼ in., Height: 2 3/8 in.

Although this item could have been used as a sauce pot, it was probably intended for replenishing water for grinding ink on a calligrapher’s ink stone The interior and base are both enameled.

Good condition, no dents or losses however there is some characteristic pitting to the enamel.

Height: 3 ¾ in.

Lid is carved with a scene of two elderly sages in a rocky landscape with trees and a bridge. The sides are carved overall with a diamond pattern. The interior and base are lacquered black. Some minor age cracks and retouched chips to the interior rim, minor retouching of red lacquer to the rims of the lid and box bottom. General wear—all consistent with and indicative of its age.

Height: 2 1/8 in.; Diameter: 5 in.

This tall, slender figure is carved from cedar in Enku's so-called hatchet style. Enku was a yamabashi, or traveling priest, whose mission was to serve the remote villages of rural Japan-- particularly those in the more northern parts. As acts of devotion, he produced thousands of Buddhist carvings over the course of his life-- many of which were given by him to the temples he served as well as the parishioners.

This figure is probably an image of the Buddhist rain and dragon deity, Zennyo Ryuo, standing upon a rock, holding a tablet against his chest with a dragon mask surmounting his head. It appears this carving was covered in a thin, dark lacquer, much of which is now worn away. Overall, the condition is good. Purchased in Kyoto in 1973, and sold as a 19th Century “Mingei” Buddha.

Height: 18 ½ in., Width: 3 in.

This very slightly flaring turned huang huali wood brush pot has a well-figured grain and a honey brown tone. The interior has blackened with age and use. It retains its original plug in the base, with it having having some losses to the edges. The exterior base appears to be dark lacquered with some tinges of red showing through. This piece is a well-used scholar's item. It is in generally good condition. Acquired in the early 1980s from a Raleigh, North Carolina estate.

Height: 4 ½ in., Diameter: 3 5/8 in.