Chidori plovers soar between warm green clouds draped over the rim of this Oribe style bowl by Kitaoji Rosanjin enclosed in a double wood box (Nijubako) annotated by Living National Treasure Kaneshige Toyo. On the bottom of the bowl is the star mark of Rosanjin, which he used to mark pieces made for his restaurant. The bowl is 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition. The box is titled Oribe-fu Chawan, Rosanjin-saku (Oribe style bowl made by Rosanjin)...

A fabulous Bizen Tane-Tsubo Seed Jar in the Momoyama style by Living National Treasure Kaneshige Toyo enclosed in a wooden box annotated by Kaneshige Kosuke. Beautiful Hi-iro flame coloring brightens the sides and a smattering of yellow flying ash clings to the shoulder about a line of waves. The tsubo is marked on the base with the fundo weight mark of Toyo. It is 23.5 cm (9 inches) tall, 20.5 cm (8 inches) diameter and in excellent condition...

A bunch of grapes in slight color under shadowy cool leaves decorate the milky white and sand toned surface of this very unusual plate by Kitaoji Rosanjin enclosed in a wooden box annotated by Living National Treasure Arakawa Toyozo dated 1968. It is 19 cm (7-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883-1959) They say adversity is the mother of invention, and Rosanjin can be said to epitomize that expression...

Kawase Hasui
Hwasa Gate, Suwon (Mizuhra Kakomon). From the series Eight Views of Korea (Chosen Hakkei).
Date: August 1939.
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.5 x 11.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe C seal (sausage seal 1929-42)...

Nishimura Hodo
Bridge in Rain at Night
Date: 1930s.
Size: Mitsugiriban. Approximately 15.5 x 7.25 inches.
Publisher: Takemura Shokai (stamp in left margin). Takemura Hideo label on back.
Signed by the artist. Takemura seal below signature.
Edition: First and only.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Light, horizontal crease in sky. Toning in margin

A vintage Japanese Ranma (transom) made of Kusunoki (Camphor) and Hinoki (Cypress) woods. Hand carved in deep relief depicting an auspicious Plum Blossom Tree with Bamboo and Irises. Celebrating the change of seasons from winter to spring, it shows many flower buds ready to bloom with a few blooming in all its beauty.

Age: Late Taisho through Early Showa Era (1926-1950).

Dimensions: 67 1/4" Wide x 16" High by 2 3/4" Deep

Pulguk Temple, Kyongju
Series: Eight Views of Korea
Date: 1939.
Size: Dai-oban. Approximately 16.75 x 11.75 inches.
Hasui signature and seal lower left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. E-seal at right margin - used 1932-42.
Reference: Hotei No. 432.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight creasing at top margin and top right. One foxing spot on back in sky.

Ohara Hoson (Koson)
Flowering Lotus
Size: Oban. Approximately 14.25 x 9.5 inches.
Date: 1920s. First edition.
Publisher: Kawaguchi and Sakai. Publisher's seal in right margin. Carver (Maeda) and printer (Komatsu) seals in left margin.
Koson's "Hoson" signature and seal at lower right.
Made in Japan stamped on verso.
Reference: H43.4 and cat...

Japanese shin hanga woodblock print by Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995) titled "White Plum in the Farmyard" dated in the left margin 1951. The artists's red seal is at the lower left and the print is pencil-signed in the lower right margin. Early edition likely dating from the 1950s/60s. Paper size: 15 1/2" x 10 7/8" (image: 14 3/8" x 9 5/8"). Very good overall condition. The back margin edge is very lightly distressed. The original 14,000 yen price is in pencil on the back lower right edge.

Ohara Koson (Shoson)
Cockatoo and Pomegranate
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1927. This edition 1946-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe 6mm seal at lower left.
Shoson signature and seal lower right...

Kawase Hasui
Kyonghwe Pavilion, Kyongsong
Series: Eight Views of Korea
Date: 1939. This edition 1943-45.
Size: Dai-oban. Approximately 16.75 x 11.75 inches.
Hasui signature and seal lower left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. G seal at right margin. Used 1942-45.
Printer: Ono Gintaro. Seal in right margin. Used 1943-1947. Reference: Hotei No. 436.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good to excellent...

Ohara Koson
Wading Egret With Reeds
Size: Shikishiban. Approximately 11.25 x 10.5 inches.
Date: 1930s.
Koson signature and seal at lower right.
Publisher: Daikokuya (Matsuki Heikichi). This edition published by Kawaguchi.
Reference: AK14.15 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
"Made in Japan" and "No. 25" stamped on verso.
Condition: Excellent with faint dot of foxing on bird's back...

I have seen a lot of work over the last quarter century by Kawai Kanjiro, and among it all, this is an absolute stunner. 'Museum quality' as a quote gets thrown around a lot, but I do not use it lightly. The form, the clarity of the white, the crispness of the lines of color and his obvious deft touch. It ranks among the top ten percent I have seen by this important artist without a doubt. The vessel is 19 x 12.5 x 16.5 cm (7-1/2 x 5 x 6-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition, enclosed in...

Ohara Koson
Nuthatcher Atop Persimmon
Size: O-tanzaku. Approximately 14.5 x 7.25 inches.
Date: ca. 1910s-1920s.
Koson seal lower right.
Publisher: Daikokuya (89)
Reference: K18.1 and in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Pencil notation on back.

Takahashi Shotei (1871-1945)
Singers of Popular Songs
Date: pre-1936.
Size: Koban. Approximately 7.5 x 5.0 inches.
Shotei seal at right.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Reference: S-10 in Shotei catalog. Watanabe catalog No. 179
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Shoda Koho
Futamigaura - Wedded Rocks
From the Hasegawa Night Scenes series.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 11.5 x 8.5 inches.
Date: 1910s-20s. This edition 1938-60s.
Publisher: Hasegawa/Nishinomiya Yosaku. Seal at left margin.
Sealed by artist at lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Bag handmade of bamboo strips with nice color. Handles are also made of thin bamboo sticks. In excellent condition, no break or loose part. The second half of the 20th century. W:39cm, H:23cm, 6cm

Made by Living National Treasure, Fujiwara Yu (1932-2001), this Bizen Hidasuki sake bottle was made about 50 years ago. Yu Fujiwara, one of the most well-known Bizen potters of his time, has become the fourth Bizen Living National Treasure in 1996. There are only five people having such title for Bizen pottery and his father, Kei Fujiwara, became the second Bizen Living National Treasure in 1970. Prior to that, Fujiwara Yu was designated as an Intangible Cultural Property of his native Okayam...