Rare Chinese Northern Wei Dynasty Painted Pottery Winnowing Figure

This very rare pottery figure was made during the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386 - 534). It is made from a buff-coloured pottery that has been "cold painted" in a creamy-white pigment. The kneeling figure is in the act of winnowing. Note the detail of the figure's face and the way in which the long sleeves from his robe are tied behind his back.

Height 13 cm...

Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Foreign Groom Figure

This pottery figure was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906) and represents a foreigner, in this case, a groom. It is made from a red pottery that has been cold-painted in various coloured pigments. The figure stands with legs apart, head held up and arms raised. The facial features are quite well-defined; note also the head gear.

A good size with a height of 30 cm...

Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Lady

This pottery figure was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is made from a creamy-white pottery (often regarded as better quality and more desirable than red-pottery figures) that has been cold-painted in various coloured pigments, good traces of which still remain. She stands as though in attendance with her hands together across her tummy. Note the detail of the hairstyle and the clothing.

Height 26 cm...

Small Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Ox / Bull

This small and attractive pottery model of an ox, or bull, was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is quite "heavily-potted" and made from a reddish pottery. It has been "cold painted" in a base coat of white pigment on top of which have been applied reddish-brown and red pigments. On the surface in places are white "calcified" deposits from its long burial. Length 14.5 cm, height 13 cm...

Meiping vase measuring 7 3/4' high, signed by Chikusai with Shimazu red crest, high relief enamel decoration of baboo trunks and leaves, with floral and foliate elements, with Gosu blue colors. Excellent condition, no chips, cracks or wear (slight loss of gilding on lip). Very artful, lovely design from all sides, with especially high relief of the enamel work.

Fine Large Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty Sichuan Pottery Musician / Entertainer

This pottery model of a musician was made during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25 - 220) and excavated from Sichuan province. It is made from a reddish pottery and quite "heavily-potted". In places on the surface are traces of a reddish pigment. A variety of figures of this general type are well documented...

Chinese Song / Yuan Dynasty Qingbai Glazed Porcelain Covered Jar

This attractive small covered jar was made during the 13th / 14th Century (Song / Yuan Dynasty). It is coated inside and out in a pale slightly greenish-blue Qingbai glaze. Around its waist are deeply incised lines for decoration and it stands on quite a sturdy foot. The cover has a carved pattern to give it the appearance of a tiled roof; this jar represents a granary.

Height 8 cm...

Exquisite repairs in overlapping gold wave designs on colored lacquer drape upon the rim of this 17th century chawan tea bowl. The white clay is covered with millet colored glaze upon which have been scrawled simple designs like the character for person (hito). The bowl is 10.5 x 10 x 6 cm (4-1/4 x 4 x 2-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition, in a modern kiri-wood collectors’ box.

Namiamidabutsu sho (Praise to the name of Amiddha Buddha) is scrawled in faint verse down the upper right, while on the left is a warning, kono tori, minasama goyojin goyojin (all those on this path, be wary be wary…) The two scripts are separated by a grave marker at the base of which lies a skull and scattered bones among the unkempt dried grasses. A very unusual seal in the shape of a Buddhist ewer hugs the right edge. Early to mid Edo period in the style of Hakuin Eikaku (1686-1768)...

A horrifying image of a ghostly apparition accompanied by a Buddhist verse engraved into this long bamboo incense container by Ishii Matetsu. It is expertly crafted. The verse reads:
Katsu!
Dokusei Dokushi Dokko Dokurai
The literal translation sounds quite cold, but in Buddhist teaching it means: We enter the world alone; we depart it alone. Do not depend upon others for your happiness, rely upon yourself and live your life in your way to the fullest...

Japanese Oribe Seto Ware Andon-Zara Dish - Edo Period

This stoneware dish is an andon-zara (or abura-zara), an oil lamp dish. It was made in the early 19th (or possibly late 18th) century, during the Edo period (1615 - 1868). It is heavily-potted and has a delightful slight warp to it. It is coated in a crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze iron-brown, the pattern featuring a stylised flower, two interlocking circles above what may be a fence. To the top right is an area of green glaze...

Japanese Oribe Seto Ware Andon-Zara Dish - Edo Period

This stoneware dish is an andon-zara (or abura-zara), an oil lamp dish. It was made in the early 19th (or possibly late 18th) century, during the Edo period (1615 - 1868). It is particularly heavily-potted and has a flat, slightly concave base. It is coated in a crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze iron-brown, the pattern featuring three stylised flowers above what may be a fence. To the top right is an area of green glaze. On the f...

Large format (dai-oban) Japanese shin hanga woodblock print titled “Blue Parrot” by Ishikawa Toraji (1875-1964) from the series “Ten Types of Female Nudes” carved by Yamagishi Kazue and self-published by the artist in 1935. The black ink Ishikawa signature and red seal are at the lower right section of the print. Paper: 14 1/2 x 19 1/8" (plate: 11 3/4" x 14 7/8"). Very good overall condition with full margins and silver mica highlights evident. One closeup photo was taken with a flas...

A radical image by the outlandish Doi Goga featuring a black devil and its child. The child reaches up to the monster, while the monster seems to be giving him a raspberry, his toungue flailing in the air. Ink on paper, it has been completely restored in beige cloth border with bone rollers reflecting the original mounting. The scroll is 42 x 181 cm (16-1/2 x 71-1/4 inches) ad is in excellent condition. Doi Goga (1818-1880) was a Confucian scholar of the late Edo to Meiji periods. He was b...

A one of a kind Edo period Buddhist censer of wood carved in the shape of a Baku, a mythical creature with the ability to eat nightmares, a brass basin inserted into the back. It is 23 x 16.5 x 27 cm (9 x 6-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches) and in fine condition. There is a strip of wood embedded in the form filling a crack in the wood.
The traditional Japanese nightmare-devouring baku originates in Chinese folklore and was familiar in Japan as early as the Muromachi period (14th–15th century). A...

Rare Large Chinese Song Dynasty Stoneware Granary Jar & Cover (AD 960 -1279)

This rare and unusual stoneware jar, complete with its original elaborate cover, was made during the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279). Both cover and jar have architectural elements; they represent a granary with a tiled roof. In addition to the applied "pie crust" and tiled roof decoration there are also incised patterns on the surface in places.

Both jar & cover are coated in a finely-crackled golden-brown glaze,...

Chinese Song / Yuan Dynasty Qingbai Porcelain Granary Jar

This porcelain jar with cover was made during the 13th - 14th century (Song Dynasty AD 960 - 1279, Yuan Dynasty AD 1279 - 1368) and represents a granary. Both the jar and the cover have been made in a mould with the jar featuring the wall and door of the granary, the cover in the form of a tiled roof. They have been coated in a finely-crackled blueish-green qingbai glaze. Various similar examples are known although this is an unusuall...

Ritual mask with a friendly expression from the north of India, bordering Nepal.. H. 32 cm. Mid 20th century. Ex coll. Ron Mansfeld, The Netherlands. Collected in India in the 90’s.