Catalog (603)

This is a charming old cloisonne teapot from the later part of the Qing Dynasty in China. During this time period the traditions and culture of tea making and drinking had evolved to include the appreciation of tea articles as art objects in addition to their utilitarian purposes. This well crafted miniture teapot would have been sought after for its sculptural form.

Each side of the body of the teapot has a different floral motif with a background pattern of clouds traditional Ruyi. The h...

All along the four edges of this bone toggle, there is a carved circular pattern design. This pattern is very similiar to a Yao Ethnic Minority pattern and would be unusual in a Han piece.

The last picture enlargement shows how the toggle would have been used to secure the cords of a hat. The bead would be moved up the cords so that the toggle would be tight under the chin. This system would hold the hat on the head while miniumizing preasure and discomfort to the skin.

Visible in the pic...

This face-sized antique mask of a shaman or Buddhist priest is from Tibet. The hand carving is both delicate and simple, with chisel marks showing on the back of the mask.

These Chinese woman's Lotus shoes are from Shanxi province and are from the mid 1800's. In Chinese culture, to have, wear or use something from an ancestor (parent, grandparent,etc) was considered as a talisman and gave an element of protection to the user. This pair of lotus shoes was passed to a younger generation whose embroidery skills were, well, not as advanced as the original maker. But clearly the child left her mark on the shoes with the added embroidery of the birds etc.

For women of indigenous cultures, sewing needles were often hard to come by and considered valuable tools. Commonly, among such groups, cases were specifically designed to protect and safeguard the sewing. This particular antique silver needle case is from the Chinese Miao ethnic minority group and would have been worn by the women as a decorative costume ornament during festival.

This Korean antique is a hand carved woodblock which would have been used to print a repeating decorative design pattern onto a textile. It is very old, and well worn with great patina.

This charming pair of lotus shoes are from northern China and date to the late Qing Dynasty. The delicately embroidered flower goes across the toe of each shoe and the wide ornate woven band forms a cuff around the top of each shoe.

This Chinese antique wood carving was possibly part of an architectural structure or possibly from a piece of furniture. The wood is approximately 1.3 inches thick and retains much of the original finish though it is obviously worn in some areas. The tradition carvings of 2 dragons chasing the pearl is very well done. The piece is about 5 inches high and 17 inches long.

This heavy wooden pillow was hand carved from a block of hard wood. A relic of the Qing dynasty during the 1800's, it would have been used more as a head rest, i.e. supporting the back of the neck so that the hair style remained undisturbed. It is carved into a series of graceful curved forms and the finish has a wonderful pattern of wear and patina. 11.5 inches x 4 x 3.25 weight 2 lbs

During is height of popularity in the Qing Dynasty, when one went to the opera, souvenir dolls were often purchased. This pair of Chinese opera dolls is probably the oldest that I have seen. Both dolls are in fragile condition. They are mounted on separate stands which may be of the same age as the dolls. They have been together for over 100 years and I am not willing to separate them

This antique Chinese box would have been used during the Qing dynasty, possibly by a scholar or shop keeper. The bottom of this box has covered compartments for seals, chops,calligraphy brush, ink sticks and a built in inkstone. There is an abacus built into the lid.

The original hinge pin was lost and has been replaced. The box was made with large dovetail joints and from a hard wood of unknown origins. The outside is dirty and I have not cleaned it. It was clearly heavily used and ther...

Manchu women never practiced foot-binding. However, during the Qing dynasty, they did wear pedestal aka platform shoes, hoping to give the appearance of smaller feet. These shoes would give the woman a more careful walk which was perceived as dainty and more sensual. In addition, the tips of the shoes would appear to peak out from under the robes, giving the foot more dainty appearance. These shoes are embroidered on both sides with a floral motif. They are in good condition, showing minimal ...

Sometimes assumed by Westerners as "medical models" these are Chinese fertility dolls. As ritual items, they rarely come onto the market. Used by several Chinese ethnic minority cultures, including the Miao, Yao and Naxi, the old fertility dolls were hand carved, anatomically correct and with pegged and jointed limbs. The hair styles and head gear would vary depending on the minority group. Dolls representing the hopeful parents to be and often the son that was wished for were consecrated by t...

This Meiji period Japanese vase has ginbari panels accenting the neck and wide goldstone band with gin-bari flowers.

Vase is 8 inches tall and is in pristine condition

This charming round Japanese antique serving tray is 11 inches in diameter. A delicate gold leaf design is painted around the outside tray rim and extends down onto the 3 shapely legs. The top edge of the rim is gold and separates the outside black lacquer from the traditional red/orange lacquer interior of the the tray. The red, black and gold lacquer paints are somewhat dulled with age and exposure. An old type written label on the bottom of the tray dates the tray to 1830. Personally I wo...

This rare Edo period antique Japanese round box has 3 tiers, lid and plate. There is a column of small Gosan kiri family crests down one side and another column of small family crests on the other side. The inside is of each piece is red orange lacquer. The box fits into the rim of a plate which was use for serving. The gold lacquer paintings designs are all very fine.

The box on the plate stands approx 9.5 inches tall. and is approx 5.5 inches in diameter. The plate is 9 inches in diam...

This antique cast iron 2 piece censer retains much of its original red paint. The inside bottom of the censor bowl is somewhat pitted from use. The chop marks are unrecogizable. The piece is 10 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches high.

This is one of 4 small individual antique Chinese carvings which I am listing separately. I had always assumed them to be 4 of the eight immortals but upon close inspection, I am now not sure which gods, ancestors or legends they represent. Each character stands with its own faithful foo type dog and carries an implement of some kind. Each has a peg on the bottom which fits into the own homemade stand.

This character stands 5.75 inches x 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. The stand adds anot...