Here we have a beautiful scroll with a mounted letter penned by famed Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) who is known as one of the 4 great haiku poets of Japan along with the likes of Bashō, Buson, and Shiki. As one might expect, Kobayashi’s life was one of turbulence punctuated by several tragedies including the death of his mother at an early age and a lengthy legal battle with his step-mother over the family inheritance after the death of his father. Through it all Kobay...

Japanese Meiji Art Nouveau silver tea tray, ca 1890. Retailed by Arthur & Bond in Yokohama. Lobed oval. Well stippled and engraved with shaded interlaced monogram. Upturned c-scroll end handles. Blossoming prunus branches, iris flowers, and bamboo applied to handles and tapering shoulder. Exotic ornament and Western form. Marked “Arthur & Bond / Sterling / Yokohama”. Very good condition. One handle back has dent (not visible from front).

Overall dimensions: H 2 7/8 x W 28 1/2 x D 18 1/2 in...

Set of 6 Belle Epoque cast 950 silver candlesticks in Louis XVI style, ca 1910. Made by J. Gruhier in France, ca 1910. Each: Spool socket with stepped and detachable bobeche. Tapering paneled shaft with stippled and elongated egg-and-dart; domed foot on octagonal base. Gadrooning and reeding. Substantial and elegant. Fully marked including Minerva head and maker’s stamp. Five have retailer’s stamp for Boin-Taburet, a Paris firm associated with adapting and reproducing historic French wares. ...

French Belle Epoque Classical 950 silver gravy boat on stand, ca 1910. Boat has ovoid bowl with helmet mouth and raised oval foot with imbricated leaf rim. High-looping and split leaf-mounted handle with armorial engraved in beaded oval frame. Stand oval with open well and four trefoil supports. Both have stippled tubular frames alternating with stylized flower heads. Reeding. Fully marked with Minerva head and maker’s stamp (Alphonse Dutac). Very good condition.

Dimensions: Boat: H 6 x W 8...

This scroll contains a sutra written as [寿至蓬莱不老僊], pronounced in Japanese as “Jyu-Ita-Hōrai-Furō-Sen.” Originating from Chinese, the characters “蓬莱” refer to the mythical land of “Penglai,” home to the immortals. According to legend the trees that grow here cure all disease; there are rice bowls and flasks of wine that never go empty; and its great castles are built entirely out of gold and silver.

The brushwork is done by a Rinzai sect m...

German 800 silver bowl commemorating Napoleon I and Marie-Louise. Lobed quatrefoil with embossed medallion bust portraits of the couple surmounted an eagle; at bottom a military trophy. Open sides with leaf swag with pendant ribboned medallions (vacant) applied to interior. Beaded rim. Mounted end handles in form of burning torch between gryphons.

The eternal flame such as might have been supposed to burn between Napoleon and his teenage bride, an Austrian archduchess—and grandniece no less ...

Equestrian-themed silver tankard with German imperial association, ca 1875. Straight and paneled sides with low-relief frieze depicting galloping riders, racing through the countryside, trees and buildings in the background; branch borders. Split-mounted s-scroll handle with thumb rest. At bottom applied branch and leaf border and open supports. Cover hinged and bellied with imbricated leaf rim; on top is cast finial in form of mounted jockey and engraved phrase citing Kaiser Wilhelm I in an all...

This pretty brooch with stones mounted in silver-topped 18k gold has been designed in the shape of a flower. The petals have been formed from 5 incised citrines in a warm smokey yellow-brown color which surround a cut diamond in the center. The stem of the flower and the petals' border are all highlighted by inlaid old European and rose-cut diamonds. The back has been marked with a French guarantee stamp. The brooch measures approximately 1 3/4" X 1 1/4" and was made Circa:1880. It is a lov...

Takahashi Shotei (Hiroaki)
Two Paintings of "Tama" Cats - Black and Beige
Date: Not known. There was a June 1924 Tama cat woodblock print (see our Shotei061) in which the white cat is in the reverse orientation.
Size (Black Cat): Paper: 15.5 x 11.375 inches (38.9 x 28.9 cm). Image: 13 x 9.25 inches (32.8 x 23.4 cm).
Size (Beige Cat): Paper size: 15.25 x 11.375 inches (38.8 x 28.8 cm). Image: 13 x 9.25 inches (33.1 cm X 23.5 cm).
Medium: Japanese paintings on paper. The ...

Enryakuji Temple, Hiyeizan (Hieizan), Kyoto.
Artist not identified.
Dated August 21st, 1937.
Size: 7.5 x 5375 inches (19 x 13.6 cm).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print as the cover of a dinner menu of the Nippon Yusen Line passenger ship, Chichibu Maru.
Publisher: Likely Nippon Mokuhan Co. Tokio (Japan Woodblock Co. Tokyo), who produced another of our ship menu woodblock prints.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print made from a carved wood block. Mechanization was added to...

Sabra Field (American, born 1935)
Going Home
Date: ca 1980 (as noted on separate board)
Paper size: 13 x 8.5 inches.
Image size: 9.5 x 5 inches.
Medium: Woodcut print.
Condition: Light scuff on mountain.

Swedish Neoclassical 830 silver serving bowl, 1932. Ovoid bowl with high-looping end handles and raised foot. Engraved leaf-and-dart mouth rim. Pierced colonnade foot rim. Fully marked including maker’s stamp (G. Graumann) and date code. Very good condition.

Overall dimensions: H 3 3/4 x L 11 x W 4 3/4 in. Weight: 8.7 troy ounces. #BZ125

Shoda Koho
Ueno Park
From the Hasegawa Night Scenes series.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 10.25 x 7.75 inches.
Date: 1910-38. A rare, early edition on card-like paper.
Publisher: Hasegawa. #1248 in Hasegawa catalog.
"Made in Japan" stamp and #427 tag on verso.
Not sealed by the artist.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Hans Frank, Austrian (1884-1948)
Venice II, 1925 (Venedig II, 1925)
Date: 1925.
Paper size: 17.5 X 13.25 inches (44.5 x 33.9 cm).
Window size: 16 x 12 inches (40.5 x 30.5 cm).
Signed and dated at lower right.
Medium: Color woodcut on laid Japanese paper.
Condition: Small crease at upper right corner. The odd small mark in image.
Attached with archival tape to top of a 24 x 20-inch matte).

Fine quality Japanese Meiji silver incense burner, ca 1890. Barrel-form with solid top and bottom and open sides; applied chrysanthemums heightened with gold and silver. Cover oval and flush; finial in form of big loosely-tied bow with tassels. Ends plain and studded; copper and gold ornament with central mons encircled by two scaly, taloned dragons. Scrolled cradle mounted to pillar with brackets on four scroll supports. Applied leafing and flowering tendrils.

Appears to be unmarked. Very goo...

Beautiful Art Nouveau Classical glass perfume with silver overlay, ca 1900. Globular bottle with short neck and ball stopper. Classical flowering and leafing rinceaux overlay with round frame (vacant). Glass is red. Silver has maker’s stamp (Gorham) and no. D941. Very good condition.

Dimensions: H 5 3/8 x D 3 1/4 in. #BZ501

Hiroshige Ando
Fuchu, Nichomachi (Titled in image)
Size: Approximately 8.5 x 3.5 inches.
Date: ca 1910.
Publisher: Matsumoto Print Works. No. 40 publisher's tag on back.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Bend lower right corner. Chip upper left corner.

Ohara Koson
Bullfinch on the branch of a blossoming plum tree
Date: Saturday, April 27th, 1940.
Size: 7.5 x 5.375 inches (19 x 13.6 centimeters).
Note: Cover of a dinner menu for the passenger liner Nitta Maru of the Trans-Pacific Line.
Publisher: Likely Nippon Mokuhan Co. Tokio (Japan Woodblock Co. Tokyo), who produced another of our ship menu woodblock prints.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print made from a carved wood block. Mechanization was added to the printing...