Catalog (603)

A superb Karatsu chawan dating from the mid Edo period (1615-1868). Karatsu pottery originated more than four hundred years ago in the small town of Karatsu, located in northern Kyushu. It has been a favorite of tea practitioners for centuries for its simple design and natural feel. Decorated karatsu ware is called E-karatsu.

This tea bowl is in excellent condition and comes with a special wood box with describtion of its content ("Karatsu Tea Bowl Edo Period").

It is perf...

Black Raku Chawan with wood box, both have the sign of the 12th. Kichizaemon Konyu ( 1857-1932 ).

The lid back of the wood box bares the appraisal and of Sen Sosa XII 'Sesai' ( 1863 - 1937 ), who has been the 12th grand tea master of Omotesenke.

We offer this tea bowl by order of a German collector.

The chawan is in good condition with no repairs. There are two small inborn kiln cracks on the rim.

Size: 3,4'' height x 5,1'' length x 5,1'' width.

A valuable Shino Nezumi Chawan by legend and Living National Treasure Ishiguro Munemaro, 1893-1955.

It is in mint condition and comes with its original signed box.

In 1918, Ishiguro Munemaro set his goal of becoming a ceramist after seeing a spotted tenmoku tea bowl at Tokyo Art Club. On his own, he researched Chinese ceramics of the Tang and Song dynasties, Korean ceramics, and so on, and grounded on abundant experience and skill, he established a richly lyrical and eleg...

This is an Edo period chawan by Japans greatest Poet Rengetsu Ōtagaki ( 1791 - 1875 ).

It shows a poem of herself, tastefully carved onto the tea bowl. The chawan has a wild and rough look and an aesthetic kintsugi ( gold repair ). A tasteful woodbox is also included.

Size: 2.4'' height, 4.3'' width.

Ōtagaki Rengetsu was a Buddhist nun who is widely regarded to have been one of the greatest Japanese poets of the 19th century. She was also a skilled...

Up for sale is this wonderfully textured 19th century Japanese cast iron tea kettle made by noted Kyoto-school tetsubin craftsman Kibundo ( 1812-1892 ).

It is cast in high relief with the image of writings and a landscape.

This fine kettle bears the body-mark “Kibundo zo” and a remnant of the square seal mark of Kibundo on the bottom.

The quality of the relief casting is superb. A peculiar punching technique called “oshinuki” was applied to the body, produc...

A tetsu-yu chawan by greatest Kanjiro Kawai with signed box.

Mint, no cracks or repairs.

Size: 8,6 cm height, 13,1 cm diameter.

No ceramic artist of the Showa approached Kanjiro Kawai (1890-1966) for creativity and artisanship. Kanjiro was a true artist by nature, and together with Hamada Shoji, set a pattern of study for modern potters. After graduating the Tokyo School of Industrial Design, he came to study in Kyoto, eventually establishing his own kiln on the ...

Another Kamakura (end of Heian Period 1100-1300) Yama chawan from our collection made of unglazed pottery.

This is an excavated tea bowl from the Seto area (Aichi Prefecture).

Very good antique condition and atmosphere.

Size: 2 inches height, 6.2 inches width, 6.1 inches length.

Up for sale is this special example of the beauty of Raku ware, a pottery tradition born more than 400 years ago in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, from the collaboration between great tea master Sen Rikyu (1522-1591) and a potter named Chojiro ( - 1592), the forebear of the great Raku family of potters.

This particular chawan (tea bowl) was made by the 12th bearer of the Raku name, Raku Kichizaemon Konyu (1857-1932), whose works are not very diversified but who created seren...

A magnificent and rare Amida Nyorai bronze Buddha, made in the early Edo Period, which means in the early 17th. century. This statue was made in a way called lost-wax metal casting, also known as Rougata Chuuzou, which was popular only in the 6th. century and in the Edo time.

The statue is in good antique condition with no repairs or cracks.

Size: 7,8'' height

We present a Hagi chawan from the Koraizaemon Saka family, offered with the original wood box, dating from the Meiji Period

No cracks and repairs.

Size: 7,9 cm in height x 12 cm in diameter.

The first Hagi wares, a glazed, high-fired stoneware, originated with the Korean potter Li Kyong. He was brought back to Japan by Lord Mori Terumoto after the invasion of Korea in 1593. Many potting centers in Western Japan, such as Agano, Takatori and Satsuma, date their beg...

Up for sale is our oldest Japanese Tokkuri (Sake bottle). It dates from the Momoyama Period with an age of 400 years and has a very tasteful glaze with vivid colours. Close to the bottom there is a kiln mark (refer to picture no. 6)

The Tokkuri can be used with a little flower as a wabi arrangement. It is in good condition with a crack on the top of the tokkuri, which enforces the wabi look.

A Tokkuri with this age is absolutely rare.

Size: 18 cm

Shipping...

Up for sale is this heavy gilt bronze statue of a seated Guan Yin from the 19th. century.

She is showing the Abhaya Mudra.

The statue is more the ten (10!!) kg heavy, made from solid bronze. It has been exhibited in our family collection since 1950.

Hand polished bronze in perfect condition, with some old age wears.

Size: 41 cm x 28 cm x 21 cm

Shipping included

This is a wonderful Kanbishi chawan of Living National Treasure Potter Arakawa Toyozo with its original signed wooden box.

It is in mint condition with no cracks and no repairs.

Size: 5,3 inches x 4,9 inches x 3,0 inches

Toyozo Arakawa (1894 - 1985) rediscovered the techniques of manufacturing Shino glazes first perfected during the Momoyama and Edo periods. Arakawa also proved that these legendary ceramics originated in his native Mino province (not Seto as pr...

An absolutely stunning Edo period (1700s) Kuro Oribe Chawan covered in thick, ink-black crackle glaze and some fine cream colored decoration.

The slightly irregular kutsu-gata form settles easily into the palm of the hand, with the built up rim resting lightly on the fingers. A high quality box called Shiho-zan is part of the offer. The four sides of the box are surrounded.

No chips or repairs.

It is unsigned, as would be typical of older tea implements.

S...

This is a wonderful tea bowl of Japanese Hagi Ware, which was made about 100 years ago.

The seal of the potter is stamped on the bottom. Some natural glaze cracks, which were intentionally created in the time of the firing process, are very nice. This bowl has an authentic wabi sabi taste.

Hagi Ware is a type of Japanese pottery most identifiable for its humble forms and use of translucent white glaze. It originated in the early 17th century with the introduction of potter...

This is one of the first tea bowls in Japan, which came together with the first tea from China. It is a Chinese Jian Tenmoku Tea Bowl of the oil-spot type. These bowls were produced in large quantities for the general public as well as for the imperial court between the 10th and and the 13th century in the Fujian province.

This type with the flaring mouth is relatively rare and is shaped in James M. Plummers: Temmoku (Tokyo, 1972), p.63. The "Oil-Spots" are of the brownish (the Jap...

Here we present a tasteful kuro (black) Oribe kutsu chawan from the mid Edo period.

It has an interesting shape with fantastic black glaze and two different images on it. This bowl is unmarked, which was typical for tea bowls of this era.

We offer this tea bowl with a very good box (kiribako).

No cracks or repairs - except inborn kiln cracks. Good antique condition with some traces of use due to the age.

Size: 8,3 cm height x 14,2 cm diameter.

Only one of a kind! Distorted half cylinder shaped (near kutsugata) tea bowl made of light, coarse unrefined Mino clay. It dates from the Momoyama Period.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical feldspatic shino glaze inside and outside, with the exception of the bottom' the roughly cut foot ring. A very minor iron oxide content of the clay has changed the white shino glaze to light pink (beni). This is absolutely rare. (Beni-shino is a variation of E-Shino and should not...

Best of the best! Distorted half cylinder shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl made of light, coarse unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical black oniita glaze inside and outside, with the exception of the bottom' the roughly cut foot ring and window, which is decorated with plover birds (chidori) over waves in black under a shin on type glaze. Next to the roughly cut foot ring is a kiln mark (kama jirushi). There is a repair to the rim, executed in real Japanese gold...

Antique seated bronze Buddha in Maravijaya and Virasana, made in the late 16th or early 17th century in Chiang Mai Northern Thailand.

It shows a rare high quality bronze, very heavy, solid and shiny with rests of gilt.

The statue is our property since 1938 and was exhibited in our private home since that time.

Predominantly hollow inside and nevertheless 6,5 kg heavy.

Size: 43 cm height x 31 cm width.

From our great collection of Japanese tea pots we offer you a superb Hobin tea pot, made during the Meiji period at the end of the 19th century.

It is slightly deformed, covered with rough Oni Hagi glaze and has fine crackle look with natural kiln cracks. It is signed on the bottom

Great antique condition with no cracks or repairs.

Ready to use.

Size: 3,4'' height, 3,9'' width.

Tasteful and very fine Japanese Tea Pot of Kutani Yaki with painted lyrics written on it of the No (aka Noh or Nogaku) theatre.

Although it has already an age of more than 100 years its in great condition with no cracks or repairs. You can get a rare and delicate ceramic of the Meiji Period.

A tasteful gift for passionate lovers of the Japanese Culture - ready to use it for a tea ceremony. Don't miss out.

A historical note: together with the closely related ky...

Are you tired of so many unspectacular items on the antique market? Here we present a real spectacular one - only one of a kind, an EARLY Momoyama Bizen hisago vase.

The very heavy body appears to be built from clay coils and then was thrown on a hand wheel, this and the combed decoration point to the Muromachi Period.

The beautiful yellow goma effect of the flying ash is now on the reverse side of the vase - indicating that the slight distortion was incidental and not part o...

Chinese Ming Dynasty (or older) stone head of a Buddha, mounted. The size is 44 cm in height (including stand) and the weight is 16,5 kg.

Well-carved with the face in a pleasant expression with beautiful lips and almond-shaped eyes, flanked by elongated earlobes and his hair in a four leaf style, which is extremely rare. We never have seen that type of hair on the antique market before.

It is part of our family collection for more than 100 years.

Spectacular Shino Tea Bowl (Chawan) by one of the best known and unique artists of Japan, Katsuhiko Sato. It comes enclosed in its original wooden box.

Katsuhiko is an eccentric artist, working aptly in not only pottery, but also painting and calligraphy. His artwork is part of important auctions and it is exhibited world wide. He was born in Manchuria in 1940, his family returning to Japan in 1947 to settle in Okayama. He formed his unique attitude toward life while on his deathbe...

Real old Kihara-Karatsu Chawan from the well known Kiwara kiln in Sasebo. This type of tea bowl is called hanjiki, a transitional folk half porcelain bowl between Karatsu and Shoki-Imari ware.

Very nice cobalt decoration with mysterious charakters, crackle glaze and an antique gold restoration called kintsugi (gintsugi).

The Kihara-Karatsu Chawan comes with a high quality shifuku.

Size: 2,9'' height, 4,6'' width.

Little distorted half cylinder shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical green copper oxide glaze inside and outside. A 'window' on the side has been left unglazed for decoration in iron oxide engobe under a clear ash glaze in a geometric pattern of squares and triangles and little circles. This is a typical late Momoyama design. The somewhat irregular foot is typical for the late production of the 1...

Very rare example of museum-quality Shigaragki-ware by Tsujimura Shiro. It was originally given as a gift from the artist to a secret, wealthy benefactor upon the Grand Opening of the famed Miho Museum near Kyoto, Japan, in 1997.

Some time later we bought it from this famous benefactor, and since then it is in our collection.

This is a very rare and highly collectible and massive item, and it is entirely authentic with an absolutely perfect provenance. In fact, the only ...

Half cylinder shaped (Hanzutsu) tea bowl made of light, coarse unrefined Mino clay, with very little and small ishihaze (exploding stones).

The mouth has been trimmed in a fashion frequently seen in black oribe but rarely in yellow seto bowls. The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical ash glaze inside and outside which has turned into yellow, due to a slight iron oxide content in the clay; the thick and glossy glaze (guinomi-de) has a beautiful, fine crazing. The bowl show...

The history of Japanese chawans should not be written without this 15th century Iga chawan. It was produced during the Muromachi Period, which was running from approximately 1337 to 1573.

So here is one of the best chawans from this era and one of the best available antique chawans in the world: a round wan-shaped bowl thrown on a hand wheel (thick bottom!) from a relatively fine light clay with very little ishihaze (exploding stones), very low content of iron oxide, some red disco...

We like to present you from our family collection our only tsutsu winter chawan. Aesthetic old winter chawans are hard to find - so take your chance. Its a Shino Chawan with fantastic glaze and a perfect kintsugi gold repair. Once you hold it in your hands you will refuse to give it back. It dates back to the middle Edo Period and comes with an old wood box.

Size: 4,6'' height x 3,6'' in diameter.

Cylinder shaped (hanzutsu) tea bowl made of light, fine, unrefined Mino clay dating to early Edo Period. Shape and style make it appear contemporary with the late Oribe bowls.

The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical black oniita engobe inside and outside - with the exception of the bottom - over which a white, feldspatic Shino glaze has been poured. Just the foot ring and its immediate surrounding was left unglazed, and a triangle decoration is scratched into the iron...

Little distorted half cylinder shaped (hanzutzu) tea bowl made of light, coarse unrefinde Mino clay, with very nice, little and small ishihaze (exploding stones).

The mouth has been trimmed in a fashion frequently seen in black Oribe but rarely in Ki Seto (yellow Seto) bowls. The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical ash glaze inside and outside which has turned into yellow due to a slight iron oxide content in the clay.

The thick and glossy glaze (guinomi-de) has ...

Here is a brilliant Chawan by Master Mashiko Potter and Living National Treasure Shimaoka Tatsuzo enclosed in the original signed and stamped wooden box. It is in mint condition with no chips or cracks.

Shimaoka Tatsuzo (1919-2007) is one of the best-known Japanese potters. The artist studied under another pottery legend, Hamada Shoji, to become one of Mashiko master craftsmen. Shimaoka Tatsuzo became independent in 1953 and after having exposed in renowned venues in Japan, the pot...

Wonderful hand shaped Tanba chawan, made 80 - 100 years ago. The tea bowl is well balanced and has a perfect shape.

No chips or cracks.

The bottom is signed. Good Wabi Sabi aura. Great!

Size: 6,5 cm height x 11,7 cm in diameter.

Tanba-yaki pottery originated approximately 800 years ago and has played an essential role in people’s daily lives, as well as becoming sought after as artwork in recent years.

Its distinguishing feature is its simplici...

Special autumn offer:

Another beautiful chawan from our familiy collection: square cylinder shaped (hanzutsu) tea bowl made of light, fine, unrefined Mino clay, with a flaring mouth in shape of a half pipe.

Shape and style make it appear contemporary with the late Oribe bowls. The expertly thrown body is covered with the typical black oniita engobe inside and outside - with the exception of the bottom - over which a white, feldspatic Shino glaze has been poured. Just the...