Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art (482)

Obvious hand carved, this antique Sarinda is missing the tuning pegs, and the animal skin covering...wonderful patina...This is rare collectors ethnographic piece, and looks great hanging on a wall.

24 x 9 x 7 inches...hand carved from one solid piece of wood.

The "Sarinda" musical instrument was used for centuries in various countries in Central Asia, primarily in Rajasthan (Northern India), Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan...

This pair of antique Miao boots were made by a young woman from Song Tao to be worn for festivals. The thick sole has iron hob nails to make walking easier on the hills and terraces. The vamp is made from cotton fabric and is heavily embroidered with cottton thread using satin and chain stitch techniques. The upper part of the boot is also made of cotton fabric.

This is an antique Chinese set of carved bone dominoes, complete with dice and original wooden box. Carved by hand sometime in the Qing dynasty, the 32 dominos vary abit in shape, size and thickness and the bone dice are a bit off cube.

The box is just under 5 inches x 2.5 inches x 1.5 inches.

This is a wonderful Qing Dynasty child's hat from Shui minority group in the Rong Jiang area. It is traditional looking Chinese cap style made with silk fabric and silk split thread embroidery, and top knot. This hat is over 100 years old, and has wonderfully soft patina, and shows some wear. Truely charming

This old set of pygmy quiver and arrows have seen a lot of use. When hunting, the leather quiver would have been worn high on the back. The cap comes off easily and the upper portion of the quiver is bent to allow easy access to the arrows. The metal tips of the 5 arrows are worn and broken with only 1 showing its original shape and barbs. Each arrow has a plant binding around the end with a notch for the bow string...

Very Nice patina on this old Tibetan Dorje. It is 7 inches long. The Tibetan Dorje is the equivalent of the India Buddhist symbol of Vajra or Thunderbolt which represents the masculine force....

This small purse was made by Miao girl to be given to "boyfriend"...If he accepts and wears the purse on his belt...he favors her. The embroidery stitch is called Daiz but westerners know it as Peking knot aka forbidden stitch. 5.5 x 3 excellant condition

This antique pair of Chinese lotus shoes were worn by a woman in He Bei Province during the end of the 1800's. Small bits of Leather are nailed to the heals because the women of that time liked the sound of the heal hitting the floor as they walked. A delicate floral motif was carefully embroidered to both sides of each shoe.

there are no rips and no tears but clearly these shoes were worn numerous times.

This antique Chinese silk dragon court vest is couched with silk thread embroidery designs of dragons, birds, flowers, clouds etc. and accents of gold bouillion thread. Vest shows some minimal wear and is in overall good condition.

The vest dates to the mid 19th century and has a front rank badge with bird facing the wearers left shoulder. This indicates that the original owner was the wife of a civil official...

This antique molded gourd cricket case has a tight fitting rosewood lid. In China, during the Qing dynasty, crickets were considered household pets, and they were also used for fighting contests and, betting was a regular part of the fight scene.

This small hand painted picture on cloth, called a Tsakli was used for Buddhist religious instruction and rituals in Tibet. The back of the card has Tibetan writing...Obvious condition issues...This card and others listed on this site were all antique cards when they were brought out of Tibet in the 60's...card is 3 x 3.5 inches

This home made traditional (old fashioned) would have been hung on furniture door pulls for added decoration in Han Chinese home...full lenght is 30 inches...upper disc is 2 inches diameter 3 dimensional ball ia 3 inches diameter...made from fine silk fabric scrapes

During the Qing Dynasty, hair combs like this were commonly used. The structure is bone and the tines are of wood. A few tines have gone missing with age and use. The comb is about 5 inches x 2 inches.

This pair of Japanese dolls was gifted to America official who was sent to Japan to help reestablish tea industry after the war. wonderful condition: total display is 30 inches across, 10 inches deep and 14.5 inches high. The double platform is 4.5 inches of the total height.

This old wooden dragon was hand carved with an expressive face and large black eyes. He balances nicely with his tail on a short pedestal. Gripping his prized pineapple in his paws, he licks it with his tongue, clearly relishing the sweet taste. The pineapple has a short hollow plug on top to provide for an incense stick.

The name Zhang Feng Chao is carved on the underside of the pedestal. This old dragon is a wonderful example of an old Chinese folk art artifact...

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 unusual Japanese lacquer clam shell is from Wakasa, a center for exceptional lacquer craftsmanship which began during the Edo period. At that time the lacquerers of the Obama clan, near Wakasa Bay, began decorating their work with designs depicting elements of the ocean floor, For techniques, the Wakasa craftsmen developed a process of repeated lacquer coatings of several colors and rubbing down the lacquer coated surface...

These antique Chinese hat stands are carved from an unknown wood. Their interlocking parts can be separated easily, so they may have been designed for traveling. They can be sold separately or in groups and used to "show off" your hat collection or as interesting artifacts of Qing dynasty culture.

The hat stand on the left side comes apart into 2 pieces and stands 11" high.

The stand on the right also comes apart into 3 sections with 2 pieces in each section. This stand is 12" tall.

22 inches long and a century of hard use but the tip is clean and sharp. I suspect a skilled carpenter could still use this old Chinese drill to build a cabinet or post and beam house. Personally, I am so thankful for electrical tools.

Wonderful patina on this old tray from the Philippines. Woven from bamboo strips, this tray is approx 30 inches in diameter.

For centuries, before there was electricity, throughout Asia, Puppetry Arts were a popular form of traveling entertainment... A platform with a cloth screen, lit from the back by candlelight, provided the stage.... The shadow images were black against the white "background". Hence, the puppets had a minimum of color and only the necessary intricate cut outs for personality as they were sometimes presented to the audience with the "handlers" after a performance...

This is one of 2 hexagonal shaped tea cannisters which I have listed separately. This one has an incised spring scene of two young birds and a butterfly on one side. The other side has 2 sentences from the famous Tang dynasty poem by Lu Tong. The bamboo has darkened considerably with age...

Each band of this pair of very fine silk embroideries have 2 sets mirror images: one set of floral motif and the other set of a couple celebrating. Both sets use satin stitch, french knot (aka forbidden stitch) and couching embroidery techniques. The embroideries are on a background fabric of fine patterned silk which measures 6" by 15". The floral embroidery is 1.5 x 2" and the couple embroidery is 1.5 x 5"...

This unusual small triangular shaped snuff bottle 2 of the 3 sides of the piece have carefully repouse Tibetan symbols..no makers marks...a few tiny dents ...no loss. It was brought back from Tibet by a man who went on a long walkabout from Istanbul to Tibet back in the late 60's...China was not open at the time...and Tibet ..he traveled with a backpack,limited space,few small momentoes and he was picky...old pieces only... bottle is approx 1.75 inches high

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.

The Manus Island is one of the Admiralty Islands. This traditional hair comb which the islanders would make from the mid ribs of coconut palm fronds. It is covered with a hard patinarium paste made from the crushed fruit of the Nilit tree, sometimes called Puttynut.

The doodoo was an element of Chinese woman's costume which was worn covering the chest. This one has a money pocket ant is in pristine condition. With silk embroidered flower decoration on a satin weave cotton background fabric. The back is a simple piece of somspun indigo dyed fabric

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 antique Tibetan purse would have been used as a costume ornament during festival. It is decorated with silver and bronze fittings and coral and turquoise stones. Passed from generation to generation, and used extensively, this piece shows it age. Such purses would have held precious coins and the occasional flint but would not be considered as a Tibetan "strike a light" because of the lack of the striker plate.

This elaborate woman's dress bodice is from Afghanistan, formerly Baluchistan. The fabric was first elaborately embroidered with an applique of thin strands of braids. Then it was heavily decorated with coins and beads.

According to my Miao friends, these coin purses were often made by a girl as a gift to a prospective boyfriend...and depending on where and how he wore the purse, it would indicate his feeling for her... they can be sold separately or in multiples 1 piece  $175 plus shipping  2 pieces $325 plus shipping 3 pieces $450 plus shipping 4 pieces $525 plus shipping

This is an old traditional style top shirt which would have been worn by a young girl of the Yi Chinese ethnic minority from Yunnan Province. the fabric is made from home grown cotton, hand spun, and hand woven. The collar surround and cuffs are trimmed with an intricate batik pattern and the tiniest embroidery stitched I have ever seen. The shirt has its original buttons. Good size for framing 14 inches across the chest.

Antique Chinese summer court hat complete with red silk tassels which extend down from the finial to cover the hat. Officials would use their "court" hat for non-formal ceremonies or daily businesses. The finial would be added to the hat during formal court ceremonies held by the Emperor...

This antique pipe has burl wood bowl with silver filling (one ring missing) and a horn mouthpiece which has obviously been well used. There are a few short residual threads from what was probably originally a tassel. It is a wonderful ethnographic relic of folk art.

This antique lidded container was made for jewelry or other small household items. Obviously hand made, probably by the original owner, it does have a few surface nicks from age and use. With a 5 inch diameter and standing approx 4 inches high, it is a charming artifact of Chinese folk art.

this matching pair of Turkomen Yomud tent bags, aka chuval, are out of my private collection...beautiful condition Sumak weave on bag faces plain woven canvas backs 39 x 17 inches (not including fringe)