Catalog (1387)

19th century staghorn ojime (slide bead for tightening the cord going from netsuke to inro) carved in a shape of a ceramic sake jar with high shoulders and wide top, pierced and decorated with concentric circles . Clever elegant design in Japanese taste, beautiful staghorn texture, in great condition. Height 5/8 inches.

19th century ojime (slide bead for tightening the cord going from netsuke to inro) carved as a seated monkey performing “speak no evil” routine. Nice work, pleasant patina, no chips or repairs, dust on the surface. Height 3/4 inches.

Pair of 19th century Japanese bronze vases of a kind used on top of an altar for holding incense sticks. Elegant shape with broad shoulders and splayed mouth and foot. Pleasantly heavy, wonderful patina on the metal, beautiful devotional objects. Height 4 3/4 inches.

19th century Chinese scholar’s desk object carved out of bamboo to represent a cluster of several reishi fungus - the Fungus of Immortality. The top of the carving provides 2 areas for keeping very small objects - tiny ink cakes and such. Beautifully designed, superbly carved both on top and bottom, excellent detailing, great staining and patina. Wonderful feel of age, very appropriate object for a scholar’s desk. Length 3 7/8 inches.

Late Meiji - early Taisho (1890s - 1910s) Japanese Arita round porcelain kogo (covered box for incense during tea ceremony) with sometsuke (underglaze blue and white) decoration. Painted in underglaze blue in Shonsui style: initial Shonsui ware is Chinese blue and white porcelain imported to Japan starting in the reign of Tianqi Emperor (1621-1627). Starting from the 18th century Arita kilns have been producing their own items in Shonsui style. The cover is painted with a central roundel contain...

18th century small Indian bronze votive sculpture depicting Shridevi - a form of Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu. She is holding an open lotus in her left hand. Very nice casting - see her graciously bent figure, beautiful warm brown patina, high devotional wear with traces of sandalwood powder in crevices, overall in great condition for a votive piece. Height 2 3/8 inches.

19th century small Indian bronze votive sculpture of monkey god Hanuman with his hands in praying gesture in front of him, and his tail forming a loop behind him. Hanuman personifies ingenuity and faithfulness - his strength and courage helped Rama to defeat Ravana. Cast in Maharashtra, wonderful casting (see his body in strong S-shaped atibhanga flexion at the waist) and detailing, nice patina. Height 2 inches.

Unusually small 19th century Indian bronze votive sculpture of Bhudevi with bare breasts and pink lotus (nilotpala) in her right hand. Bhudevi is the consort of Vishnu and personifies the earth. Excellent casting and detailing, modeled with grace and beauty, wonderful brown patina, in excellent condition for a votive piece. Height 1 5/8 inches.

19th century small Indian bronze votive sculpture of seated Ganesha with his trunk to its left, and holding the elephant goad and battle-ax (parasu) in his rear hands, and sweetmeats in both front hands. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, and thus is invoked before any new undertaking. He bestows good luck on his worshippers, and is invoked in marriage ceremonies and in some forms of Tantric worship. Pleasant casting and detailing, wonderful feel of age produced by devotional wear with traces ...

1920s Japanese ceramic tokkuri - sake bottle - with conical body and narrow mouth. The piece was made at Shigaraki kilns - one of the six ancient kilns of Japan - and displays typical coarse body with large sand particles, freely applied gray glaze with some areas that fired brick red. Excellent piece in Japanese taste, beautiful spiral line on the bottom. Some compressed dust, overall in excellent condition. Height 5 3/8 inches.

19th century Chinese rock crystal seal in a shape of a tall and narrow mountain peak characteristic of Southern China. Very beautiful stone with few natural cloudy areas by the bottom, excellent quality carving of 4 sunken characters on the bottom, very fine polish to the surface. Traces of red seal paste in the grooves, imprint of the seal is shown on Enlargement 1. Several tiny nicks to edges as to be expected on an old piece. Very good object for scholar’s table. Height 1 3/4 inches.

Unusual early 19th century Japanese cloisonne kogo (covered box for incense during tea ceremony) made in a shape of a clam shell and decorated with various flowers on the background of scrolling vines. Rims are silvered (some wear), white enamel background on the outside, blue enamel on the inside. Very pleasant finish with original pitting, rare and early object in terms of Japanese cloisonné, from the period of transition from Chinese to Japanese style. Great piece in Japanese taste. Length 3...

Rather unusual 19th century Japanese bronze box for use in the incense game, when the player was blindfolded and given an incense to identify. Three cutouts on the top are made in a shape of paulownia crest used by the Tokugawa Shogun family. The paulownia crest was Imperial and represented the Emperor, but it could be bestowed on someone whose service to the throne was most important. Shoguns Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were using it before Tokugawa. Beautifully shaped sides both of the...

Late 19th century Japanese stoneware kogo (box for incense during tea ceremony) in a form of Daikoku holding a rice bale in front of him. Daikoku is one of the 7 Gods of Good Fortune, that of rice, and, as a consequence, of wealth. Stoneware with wonderful potting, beautiful celadon glaze, very pleasant patina. Great piece in Japanese taste. Height 2 inches.

Bronze ring dating from 8-6th century BC made in Northern Italy by Villanovian culture named from a typical settlement discovered in 1853 at Villanova, near Bologna. Wonderful artifact with rich green patina, in excellent shape for a 2700 year old object. The piece comes from the Koutalakis collection. Can actually be worn as ring - the inner diameter is 15.5 mm, which corresponds to ring size 4.

Unusual late Qing Dynasty (late 19th century to 1911) Chinese scholar’s bronze seal with a sea horse grip and round base. Wonderful quality casting, beautiful patina. The bottom is carved with two sunken characters that can be translated as WINE TERRACE, red seal paste in the grooves. Wonderful scholar’s object. Height 2 3/4 inches, base 5/8 inches round.

19th century Japanese leather tobacco pouch with kiseruzutsu (tobacco pipe holder). Bronze kanemono - pouch clasp - is made in a shape of a roof tile bearing Toyotomi mon - the crest of the Toyotomi clan. Ojime (slide bead for tightening the cord going from netsuke to inro) appears to be bone stained coral red. The pipe case is made out of dark celluloid type material and has a dent in it as seen on photos. The pouch still contains a bit of finely shredded tobacco. Pouch size 3 7/8x2 1/4 inches,...

19th century staghorn ojime (slide bead for tightening the cord going from netsuke to inro) carved in a shape of a ceramic sake jar with high shoulders and decoration of concentric circles . Clever elegant design in Japanese taste, beautiful staghorn texture, in great condition. Height 5/8 inches.