Catalog (48)

Two Jizo Bosatsu figures standing side by side with hands forming the gassho adoration mudra, sculpted in relief from a gray-hued volcanic stone. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1750. Very minor old loss.

Height: 24 cm
Width: 12.5 cm
Depth: 8.5 cm
Packaged weight: 4 kg.

Dosojin is the Japanese Shinto manifestation of a Chinese Taoist deity charged with guarding the border between this world and hell. Believed to obstruct the passage of evil spirits and gods of disease into human communities, Dosojin is associated particularly with roads, crossroads, mountain passes, village boundaries, and travel generally.

Because Jizo Bosatsu is Dosojin's honjibutsu, or Buddhist counterpart, Dosojin stones oftentimes take the form of two Jizo figures either standing or seated side by side.

A charming little Dosojin stone.

Standing Jizo Bosatsu, the hands forming the gassho mudra of adoration, sculpted figurally from a volcanic stone. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1700. Minor old loss and overall softening of the lines and contours, with a patch of white lichen around the left eye.

Height: 31 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Depth: 11.5 cm
Packaged weight: 6 kg

A charmingly rough-hewn Jizo stone.

Wooden Jizo head fragment with traces of gesso-like ground, the eyes of sculpted wood, displayed on a wooden stand. Nanbokucho~early-Muromachi Period ca. 1400.

Height of fragment only: 20.1 cm
Overall height, including display stand: 27.8 cm

Gilt-wood fragment of a standing bosatsu, probably either a Kannon or Seishi, displayed on a polychromed-wood lotus-leaf-form dais. The fragment Kamakura Period ca. 1200, the dais of later manufacture ca. 1600.

Height of bosatsu fragment only: 54 cm
Overall height, including lotus-leaf-form dais: 66 cm

A sizable, elegantly sculpted fragment with significant age. Aesthetically pleasing and highly decorative.

Wooden Buddha head fragment, wari-kubi construction, apparently refinished in black lacquer and gilt, carved-wood eyes, with both urna and nikkei-shu of inset rock crystal. Late-Heian~early-Kamakura Period ca. 1200.

Height, including stand: 30 cm
Height of head only: 26.4 cm
Width: 13.5 cm
Depth: 14 cm

A handsomely classic Buddha head with significant age. Highly collectible.

Matched pair of cloud-form architectural elements, each piece sculpted from a single piece of wood, no finish, with two metallic hooks attached to the backside of each piece for wall display. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1750. Excellent condition and desirable patination.

Each piece with Height: 19 cm
Width: 47 cm

Pair of rectangular plaques sculpted from wood and finished in lacquer and gold leaf with natural-pigment paintings of Fugen Bosatsu on elephant mount and Monju Bosatsu on lion mount with the artist's signature and calligraphic seal, the back surfaces fitted for wall display. Late-Edo Period ca. 1800. Very minor old pigment loss.

Each plaque with Height: 32.8 cm
Width: 13.5 cm
Thickness: 1.7 cm

Highly decorative painted plaques of exceptional quality.

A triptych-style zushi (protective receptacle for Buddhist sculpture) in the form of a hoju (sacred jewel), sculpted in three parts from wood and finished in lacquer and gilt with decorative gilt-copper metalwork. Momoyama~early-Edo Period ca. 1600. Desirable patination overall, with minor old repairs.

Height 24.5 cm
Diameter of base: 16 cm

Standing Kannon Bosatsu fragment in patinated gilt-wood displayed upon a lotus-form mandorla originally placed behind the head of a large Buddhist sculpture, also in patinated gilt-wood. The Kannon fragment early-Edo Period ca. 1650, the mandorla Nanbokucho/Muromachi ca. 1400. Minor old repairs.

Diameter of mandorla: 30 cm
Thickness: 3 cm
Height of Kannon Bosatsu: 11 cm

Metallic screws and line inserted on the back of the mandorla for wall display.

Wooden fragment (zanketsu) of the upper arm of a bodhisattva, showing slight traces of the original lacquer-based ground treatment. Heian Period ca. 10th—12th century. Custom-made metal-and-wood stand included.

Height of fragment only: 26 cm
Height, including stand: 32 cm.

This fragment is featured on page 85 of a Japanese-language book entitled "Furukute Utsukushii Mono" (Old, Beautiful Things), written by Mika Seki, owner of Shouun Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo, and Mika Gallery in Manhattan, published in Tokyo by Heibonsha/Corona Books in December 2010. The caption accompanying the photograph of this fragment (please see the final two photos included with this listing) dates it to the Heian Period (794—1185).

An old, beautiful thing, indeed, with a new, beautiful--and intriguingly intricate--display stand included.

Buttou (lit. Buddha head) of a chinsou choukoku (Zen master portrait sculpture), sculpted in wood and finished in lacquer and polychrome, the eyes of inset crystal. Momoyama/early-Edo Period ca. 1600. Minor old loss.

Height: 22 cm

Wooden fragment of a seated Sougyou Hachiman, a popular Shinto deity (kami) invariably depicted in the form of a Buddhist monk. Nanbokucho/Muromachi Period ca. 1400.

Height: 26.8 cm
Width: 18.2 cm
Depth: 12.0 cm

Stucco head fragment of a Buddha displayed on a custom-made wooden stand. Gandhara, ca. 3rd/4th c. Original condition, with no evident repairs.

Height: 8 cm
Overall height, including display stand: 14 cm

Head fragment of a Buddha originally placed atop the upswept chignon of an 11-Headed Kannon Bosatsu, sculpted from a single piece of wood with traces of a gesso-like ground and lacquer, displayed on a custom-made wooden stand. Kamakura Period 13/14 c.

Height: 10.5 cm
Overall height, including display stand: 14.5 cm

Head fragment of a Buddha in wood with faint traces of a gesso-like ground and lacquer, warikubi technique, carved-wood eyes, a metallic screw-hook inserted in the back for wall display. Kamakura Period 13 c., possibly earlier.

Height: 14 cm
Width: 7.5 cm
Depth: 6.5 cm

A subtly compelling visage.

A monkey seated on a rectangular base, the hands forming the gassho adoration mudra, sculpted figurally from a gray-brown sedimentary stone. Late-Edo Period ca. 1850. Very minor old loss, with overall softening of the lines and contours.

Height, including base: 11.2 cm
Width of base: 5.5 cm
Depth of base: 7 cm
Packaged weight: 1 kg

A notably charming bear-like depiction of a female Sarugami (lit. monkey god), a popular Shinto deity associated with safe and easy childbirth. Uncommon.

Hexagonal central portion of a sekidou (stone monument) featuring a standing Jizo Bosatsu relief-sculpted on each of the six sides. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1750. Minor old loss, with softening of the lines and contours overall. Variegated lichen accumulation.

Height: 27.5 cm
Diameter: 27 cm
Packaged weight: 28 kg

The sekidou is a style of Japanese stone monument akin to a classic stone lantern, the difference being a sekidou's incorporation of a solid hexagonal portion featuring relief-sculpted figures in place of a hollowed-out firebox found in a stone lantern. A fully intact sekidou appears in the final photograph.

An uncommon, desirable stone well-suited to garden display.

Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu in characteristic seated pose of royal ease, sculpted in relief from tuff, an igneous stone composed primarily of volcanic ash. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1700. Minor old loss and overall softening of the lines and contours. Light lichen and moss accumulation.

Height: 54 cm
Width: 29 cm
Depth: 18 cm
Packaged weight: 35 kg.