The inside of the bowl is painted with cherry tree boughs laden with blossoms—done in a dazzling underglaze blue-and-white porcelain distinctive of Imari-wares. Below, the trunks of the trees can be seen grounded in a grassy field resting on an abstract ring of karakusa (arabesque). The center of the bowl displays a fashioned wreath of cherry blossoms strung together with field grasses...

Japanese noh theater mask of a young woman, carved with pierced eyes, mouth, and nostrils for the wearer, as well as two pierced holes at the temples to be secured against one's head. Lacquered in flesh tone, black hair and blackened teeth and eyes, red lips, and black lacquer interior. With kiri (paulownia) tomobako, inscribed with the name "Juuroku".

Size: 5.25" L x 3" D x 8.25" H

Impressive Japanese Kyo-yaki Chawan, hand molded by legendary Nin'ami Dohachi during the Edo Period. His signature is written on the bottom of the chawan.

It comes with an older wooden box. Size: 7,5 cm height x 14,8 cm in diameter.

Chawans of Nin’ami Dohachi are exhibited in the most important museums, for example the British Museum...

Ninani Dohachi (1783 - 1855) was second in the long line of Kyoto potters that continue to this day to be held in high regard...

Nicely aged patinated Japanese old ivory letter opener or possibly a page turner with carved and dyed lizard making its way up the handle. The piece is 9.5 inches long and .5 inches wide. It is slightly doomed across the width and the "blade" section is sharpened on one side... Really a lovely piece.

With meticulously sculpted vines and fantastic Peony blossoms in low relief on the kinuta celadon powdery blue background, this extraordinary vase is a truly Japanese expression of classical Chinese motifs...

Very little distorted cylinder shaped (hanzutsu) tea bowl with a rounded brim, made of little reddish, coarse, unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body was trimmed with a potter's knife in its lower part and through the finger marks (rokuro-me) covered with an ash glaze inside and outside. The little iron oxide in the clay turned the glaze to light brown.

On two opposite sides, decoration has been applied under the glaze in iron oxide with a little white engobe...

A medium sized ido-gata (well shaped) tea bowl with exceptionally fine and beautifully crafted kintsugi gold repairs. One side of the bowl features a thickly applied ferrous glaze that pools generously near the base, while the pale green ashen glaze on the outside is decorated with impressed textured patterns...

It is commonly said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yet, in the real world, there seems to be a fair amount of congruity about what people consider beautiful, with most arguments about particular instances being about degree, not direction. This chawan is pure beauty - no matter from which angle you look at it.

Slightly distorted cylinder shaped tea bowl with a rounded brim, made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay in the early Edo Period around 1620...

Japanese kabuki actor doll, dressed as a fearsome white lion with long, flowing mane, made with real hair. He wears silk garments of bright orange, white and grey, with his face done in traditional cat eye makeup of white, black, and red.

Size: 16.75" x 13.75" x 20.5" H

Stemming from the philosophy of wabi-sabi—often described as the beauty found in the imperfection and transience of the world—cracks and repairs in a work of pottery are often seen as highlighting the history and importance of a ceramic object. Practitioners of tea in particular are fond of reminding us that works repaired with lacquer and gold such as the one featured here become more resilient and beautiful for having been damaged...

This lovely Shino tea bowl fashioned from coarse Mino clay and covered in a crackled feldspar glazing shows nice age and comes with what appears to be its original box.

Shino-ware dates to the Momoyama period when potters were attempting to recreate white porcelain-wares that were being imported from China at the time. Originally they were made in a single-chamber anagama style kilns set into the hillsides...

A finely enamelled Japanese export bowl decorated with Chrysanthemums and Peonies between a pair of Fan Shaped reserves of Kiku form. The petals alternating between a gilt leaf and tendril blue brocade and an unusual iron red shaded wash. The veins of the gilt leaves created by the use of a scraffito technique. The interior with a band of peony and prunus sprigs. The central well of the bowl decorated with an iron red and gilt kiku mon. A single ring to the interior of the foot-rim of the bowl...

The design of this mirror has not entirely escaped the conventions of earlier Kagami-e (Long handled Mirrors) of the late Muromachi –Momoyama era, which are essentially mirrors of conventional round form retaining a central boss to which a handle has been attached. In this example the Cranes are arranged directly opposite each other, their beaks meeting with that of the kame, to create a T form; a convention that appears in the late 16th century...

A small bronze, hakudo (white bronze), early handled mirror 17.2cm long. The mirror portion measuring 7.7cm in diameter. Typically for an early bronze mirror, it is basically a round handleless mirror, even down to a pierced boss for the attachment of a ribbon, with an attached handle...

A charming porcelain figurine of Fukurokuju, one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune. Fukurokuju is the god of wisdom and longevity, and is easily recognized by characteristics such as his dramatic, elongated forward, his root wood cane, and the scroll he holds. He wears a beautiful, flowing robe with flying cranes accented by gilt outlines. The cranes are an attribute to Fukurokuju as they, too, are a symbol of longevity.

Meiji period (1868-1912)

Size: 7" L x 6" W x 12" H

Antique Japanese fireman's coat, cotton indigo dyed with sashiko stitching and freehand paste resist decoration (tsutsugaki). Design of Immortal God Kinko Sennon riding a giant carp.

Size: 46" W x 40" H

Antique Japanese cotton woven futon cover, dyed with a paste resist technique called Tsutsugaki on an indigo ground with the mythical creature Baku, devourer of dreams and nightmares and protector against evil. The Baku should not be summoned without caution, however, as ancient legends say that if he is not satisfied after consuming one's nightmares, he may instead devour their hopes and dreams.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Size: 64.5" x 53"