Antique Japanese wooden temple carving of a dragon in swirling clouds. Beautifully carved of heavy keyaki (zelkova elm) wood with intricate details. The large dragon clasps the sacred wish-granting pearl in one claw. Around him are billowing rivulets of clouds. Some of the details of his face are painted with red mineral pigment and his eyes are made of reverse painted glass...

Antique Japanese 2-panel screen painting of a flowers. Painted in the Rinpa School technique in mineral colors and gofun on gold leafed paper. An exuberant display of sunflower, peony, sweet pea, and morning glory blossoms.

Age: Taisho Period (1912-9126)

Dimensions: 48" high x 49 1/2" wide

Eight lobed inlayed Japanese lacquered dish. Each lobe is decorated in makie, the flora and fauna of the four seasons with archaic designs set in between. The central area of the dish is depicting a female figure holding a lotus with a child attendant holding a bouquet of lotuses. The bottom is crafted in the nashiji style with a signature set in a medallion motif reading: Kaneko Zo, or Produced by Kaneko. Age: Meiji Period Size: Diameter 8.25" Height 1.5"

Tokkuri (alccol bottle) made of hard porcelain. Mikawachi kilns. Japan early 19th century. The bottle has an unusually elegant, typically Japanese shape, it was created for the Japanese market and not for export. The porcelain, immaculately white, has a very fine grain similar to that of marble, which is typical of Hirado clay. A lake landscape decor subtly drowned in mist is painted in a luminous cobalt blue...

Wonderful antique Japanese okimono of the mythical characters Ashinaga and Tenaga. The two friends live on the beach and survive on fish. Tenaga catches them with his long arms while sitting on the back of Ashinaga who wades out into the water with his long legs. Carved with great detail and whimsy out of boxwood. Meiji Period (1868-1912). Size: 14 1/4" high x 4 3/4" wide

Extremely rare Sage jubako in wood covered with basketry applied with flowers and plants in lacquer, gesso, mother-of-pearl and pewter (or lead). The box is composed of several stacked parts. The interior is lacquered in red. In the top compartment there are two Chinese characters which are perhaps an artist's signature. Underneath one can see the weft of a strong lacquered fabric ensuring a good solidity...

This is a Japanese antique Very rare tstsugaki indigo dye & yuzen dye jyofu big maku textile. It is a very rare item of multicolored Yuzen-colored linen with a mark made in 1824 in the Edo period. The good texture of this wonderful jōfu makes the best use of the good technique of Yuzen dyeing. This is a design of a cherry blossom viewing party, "shichifukujin" (7 gods) get together under cherry blossom trees and enjoy eating and drinking . shichifukujin is a very auspicious and traditi...

Extremely rare 3rd to 7th Century Kofun Period Haniwa clay sculpture of a Horse, completed with the most fabulous trappings, a fine saddle, etc. Presented on a lacquered stand. The horse is a very important figure in the Samurai society. This figure possibly may have been found near the village of Motomachi, close to the port of Konjō in Musashi Province, in present day Tokyo. Pieces like this are usually found in private collections or museums, and rarely come up for sale...

Antique Japanese large temple bronze hibachi. Round form with handles on either side and standing on three low feet. Decorated with raised bands of archaic motifs including alternating chimera and kylin mythical creatures.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: 12" high x 23 3/4" wide (9 1/4" high to top of rim)

Gorgeous Japanese lacquer box with allover gilt lacquer designs over black lacquer backgrounds with gold flakes. The front has two drawers with a crane flying beside a pine tree in lacquer. The top opens into two compartments with hinged lids decorated with a phoenix and a cherry tree. Panels of floral scenes with lucky motifs decorate the sides. Signed tomobako included. Dates from the Meiji period 1868-1912. Size: 6.25" H x 11" W x 10.5" D

Japanese Hai Hai Gosho Ningyô. This extremely rare form of Japanese Doll is one of the most sought after of Gosho (Palace Doll). They were presented to royalty and upper class at the birth of a baby, and placed in the baby's chamber to protect from bad spirits. This is a very large example of this type of Gosho. It is covered with many layers of Gofun (Oyster Shell Lacquer) over papier mache. The hair is made entirely of silk...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a ghost leering over a painted screen. The specter's long hair falls over the image of a weeping willow, a tree often associated with ghosts and spirits. Painted in ink on silk. Signed and sealed: Chokuto-sei.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: Total size: 71 1/2" high x 20 1/2" wide (22 3/4" wide including roles). Size of art: 41 3/4" high x 15 3/4" wide

Antique Japanese Raku ware chawan (tea bowl) with crackle glaze and finely applied kintsugi. Red glaze with dark greenish-black spots. Seal impression on the bottom. Kyoto. Evaluation done in the 1930's by TZ Shiota when the family was inheriting the collection from their great grandfather, Federic Torrey...

A large Japanese bronze tripod censer decorated with various auspicious motifs. Dragons and phoenix-like birds are set within a wave pattern known as seigaiha. The feet of the vessel are shaped like scrolling clouds. A censer such as this would have been used for incense at a temple.

Age: Early 19th century

Size: diameter 29.25" height 16.5"

Japanese 2 panel byobu folding screen, painted of a fierce battle scene taking place over a bridge. Gold leaf clouds edged in raised gofun outline the image.

Early Meiji Period (1868 - 1912)

Dimensions: 48" L x 28 1/4" H

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (Merchant Chest) made of Keyaki Burl (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Handmade iron fittings featuring the raised tea leaf design on the front corners of each drawer. Sliding doors with locking bar covering a book and business document storage area with shel while the hinged door covers 2 small drawers...

Wonderful Japanese antique gosho doll, a charmingly fat little boy with smiling face and beautifully detailed features, he still wears his original silk bib, Edo Period, on metal stand. Size of doll: 16" high x 15" wide

A 10.8" square tray signed Teizan and sealed Kinzan, mid Meiji period, depicting an unfortunate encounter between a hawk and a goose.

Condition: Quite good overall condition, There is a faint nick and short enamel crack to the front of the tray, two small areas of enamel cracking to the reverse, and pitting usual to the period. No dents or restoration.

The menpo features the gentle countenance of a deep vermillion red lacquer. It is composed of three parts; The removable nose armor with white horse hair mustache and its Nara style gilt teeth and open mouth, the cheeks and lower jaw with strap holder posts and its central vent hole for perspiration to escape out. The ears are pierced with both plum blossom design, and finally the four attached yodare with pale ocher silk...

Very elegant pair of Japanese cloisonne vases in the style of Hayashi. Dark midnight baby blue with sparrows flying amidst bamboo, with chrysanthemum flowers in exquisite detail, Top and bottom rims with special lapid in beautiful hues of orange, purples and greens. The natural scene in each vase are complimentary to each other and not identical. Vase are in perfect condition. Age: Meiji Period. Size: 9" Height x 4" Diameter.

Japanese bronze statue of a horned oni with long, curly hair, sharp fangs and claws. He wears a capelet with gilded puffs of smoke and yingyang, and a gilded harness across his chest. His trousers are shaped like tigers' heads biting into his legs, with a gilded belt and tiger stripes. He holds a lotus flower high above his head, supporting a bronze singing bell bowl with gold gilded flowers, butterflies, and vines all around it and raised dots all along its bottom half. He has a dark hardwood s...

Cast silver box called "presentation box". Relief detail of Phoenix among scrolls of flowers. Japanese goldsmithery from the beginning of the 20th century, Meiji or Taisho period. Exceptionally wide 26 cm. Weight 3300g. Usually this kind of box is small, about 6 to 8 cm. Its very large size makes it a remarkable object. They are silver hallmark representing a swan which I think is the mark of guarantee for the foreign silverware entering the French territory. There are 3 caracters incised und...

Box (kobako) in lacquer (urushi) powdered with gold (kinji) decoration in relief (takamaki-e) of the 3 friends (plum tree, pine and bamboo) on a mountain (perhaps Mount Horaï of the immortals?) The mountain is lacquered in red under the gold powder, revealing scarlet shades depending on the orientation of the light. The carefully executed interior represents a flight of flat-lacquered cranes (hiramaki-e), a subject in the ancient Heian style, on a background of spangled lacquer (nashij-i) formi...

This superb helmet bowl is comprised of 64 iron plates that are slightly embossed between the suji, double front plates, and a washer underneath the top front riveted inside. The bowl has been given a very dark russet finish and fitted with a simple iron visor. The meadate is a forged iron hornet with gilt brass wings. The shikkoro of five - lames of false scale laced in blue silk and brown russet lacquer. Unsigned

Size: 14" L x 14" W x 13"...

Antique Japanese very large ceramic jar with a highly textured form, wide mouth, large dripping area of natural ash glazes in blues and browns with bare tapered foot. Tokoname kilm dates from the Momoyama period 17th century. Size: 24" H x 18" W

A rare an high quality Japanese Matsumoto Choba Tansu (merchant chest from the Matsumoto region of Japan) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware with full moon style lock plates and Warabite handles. Recessed side handles lift open to accommodate a wood pole through each handle allowing two persons to carry the tansu from place to place. Solid floating wood panels on the side, the top and the sliding doors were used to prevent cracks over ...

A very rare well-potted and painted 8.25" Ko-Imari model of a standing boy reaching into an urn. The boy's face is painted with black hair and features a gilt head band. Both his robe and the urn are painted in blue, orange and iron red.

Condition: Excellent, with no chips, hairlines or repairs.

Pair of Carved Wooden Koma Inu Temple Dog Figures, each seated in the traditional posture. These are a very rare find from the early Heain Period, and could be even earlier, possibly Nara Period. The wood is aged to a beautiful patina. There are not many works of art of the period that come up for sale. There has been some conservation and restoration to stabilize these fantastic and rare pieces. 18.75 and 17.5 inches (47.5 and 44.5 cm) H, 13 and 12 inches (33 and 30.5 cm) W, 10 and 9 inches ...

A superb Japanese pair of hanging scrolls, dating from the Momoyama Period. Depicting scenes of autumn signed by the noted painter of the Kano school, Kano Shoeisai Naonobu (1519-1592). One scroll is depicting a pair of Bohemian Waxwings perched on maple and the other scroll is showing a group of sparrows frolicking among millet. Has the original lid incorporated into the scroll box. Very well painted with high level of detail. Age: Momoyama Period (1573 - 1615). Size: Height 76" Width 2...

Purchased through Christie's a good number of years ago, this is a very rare Ko-Imari porcelain figure circa 1640. Decorated in iron-red, green, gold and black enamel, the seated official measures 7.5"x6"x2".

Condition: Excellent, with only minor wear to enamel and one almost undetectibly small old chip to the edge of the base.

A set of 5 Japanese karimata arrow collection. Forged iron, mounted on steel plates and armature wire.

The forked arrowhead (karimata) was named after its resemblance to the V-formation flight of wild geese. Such arrows of different sizes were highly prized on the battlefield and for hunting large game. The Japanese arrowheads, many resembling miniature spears, were made in hundreds of varied shapes of folded, tempered steel. They were attached to the bamboo shafts by means of lo...

Pair Japanese most stunning large earthenware Satsuma Vases , signed "Kinkosan" in gold, Ca. Meiji period 1890's, 9 3/4" high, 3 1/4" diameter-top rim, 3 7/8" diameter-bottom rim, The story is telling beautiful landscape surroundings, ladies in silk brocade Kimono and children are outing in the beautiful garden scenery wearing most beautiful silk Kimonos with finely detailed pattern of silk brocade highlighted in low relief brilliant gold design, most of the gold decorations are done with one(1)...

A reversible leather firefighter's hanten 半纏 (heavier weight coat made popular in the 18th century). At this time in Japan, fireman were vollenters and carried other professions. In this case, The inside logo represents that the wearer would have been a high ranking carpenter for roof making.

Features tsutsugaki 筒描 (resist dying process) using the smoke of pine needles to produce the light patterns, and ink to dye the black side. The black sleeves appear to have been...

Antique Japanese six-panel byobu folding screen painting of a pair of pheasants (male and female). Near the pair of colorful birds, a stream flows over rocks. Exuberantly blossoming cherry trees and peonies rise from the rocky earth. Another pair of smaller birds fly together through a golden mist. Painted in mineral colors and with gold leaf on paper.

Age: late Meiji Period (circa 1900)

Dimensions: 59 1/2" high x 145 1/2" long

Antique Japanese kuruma tansu (wheeled storage chest) from the Northern Sendai area closer to Iwayado. The front of the chest is made with keyaki (zelkova elm) wood with lovely grain and original red-orange translucent lacquer finish. The frame is made of sugi (cryptomeria). The large, raised iron lock plate on the top drawer depicts a pair of cranes flying in clouds. The middle two drawers are held in place with a locking bar (bo) with pine tree shaped ironwork. The bottom drawer has a lock...

Eight paintings on paper illustrating some excerpts from The Chronicle of the Heike (1968), a historical novel by the Japanese writer Eiji Yoshikawa (1892-1962). He describes with great realism, the accession to power of the Heike clan warriors or Taira particularly his struggles with the Genji clan or Minnamoto.
An ancient and extremely popular tale in Japan, the Tale of the Heike was originally declaimed by monks accompanied by the biwa. The identity of the original author is not certai...