Catalog (283)

Zushi, shrine used in Buddhist temples, containing a statue of Aizen Myoo. He sits on his typical lotus throne carried by a vase full of jewels, surrounded by a circular, red, flaming nimbus. He has six arms and on his head he wears a crown in the shape of a lion’s head flanked by two gilded sharito reliquaries. In his lower hands Aizen holds a ghanta and a bell, the secondary hands hold arrows and formerly held a bow, the upper pair of hands used to hold probably a rope and a jewel. Sandalwood decorated with gold and black and red. Jewelry made of gilded copper and glass beads. Japan, Edo period, 18th century.

H zushi ca. 16 inches; figure of Aizen ca. 5 inches.

Figure: one arm re-stuck with glue, other joints showing small seams, some beads missing in gilded jewelry. Zushi: some lacquer chips on the doors, edges and other traces of obvious age and usage. All in all very good condition.

Finely cast bronze censer on three cloud-shaped feet with a décor on the body of an elephant on one side, a baku or tapir on the other on a background of very fine repetitive fretwork, patinated in a rich brown. Stick-like handles parallel to the body. Bottom left undecorated, with a seal: Seimin sei (Cast by Seimin). Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.
Original cover lost and replaced by a wooden Chinese cover.

H w/o cover 3-1/8 in.; H w. cover 4-1/2 in; W 4-1/4; diam. 3-1/2 in.

Handles with some repairs, otherwise very good condition. Wooden cover with some old chips, all in all very good condition

Murata Seimin (1761-1837), bronze sculptor active in Edo, well-known for his fine casting of bronze vessels and animals.

Wall vase for ikebana flower arrangement, to be hung at one of the vertical beams of the tokonoma. Brown stoneware with white inclusions, splash of greenish glaze. Metal eyelet through hole in the back for hanging the vase up (new replacement).
Signature in bottom: Jinsai.

Shigaraki ware, Japan, mid-20th century, before 1977, when Jinsai changed his name.

H 5 - 5-1/4 inches, diam 3-1/4 inches

Fine condition

Ogawa Jinsai was born in 1914 as the eldest son of the Ogawa Tokusai III, a master of Shigaraki ware. The family was founded in the late Edo period. The founder was a master at replicating ancient Iga warea and was invited by the Todo clan in Iga to make such warea. In 1977 Jinsai took over the family business and became head of the family, changing his name to Tokusai IV. He made tea and sake wares, firing in a traditional cellar kiln. He passed away late Showa/early Heisei era.

Small scroll painting of the eccentric Zen priest Ikkyu Sojun dancing on top of the head of a skeleton, who is playing the shamisen. In his hands he holds his staff topped with a skull.
Scene from the story of the Hell Courtesan, as described by Santo Kyoden, the equivalent of memento mori.
Signed and sealed at lower right by the artist.
Ink, mineral colors and gofun on silk.
Japan, early 20th century.

Painting 34 ¼ x 8 in.
Mounting 55 x 11 ½ in.

Mounting a bit dry, causing some horizontal ribs. Otherwise very good condition.

Oversized hanging scroll, portraying a beautiful young noble woman in travel dress, looking down and holding a large head. While her orange kimono is decorated with cherry blossoms, her overcoat is decorated with maple leaves in autumn colors. Signed: Tojo. Red seal: Seizan. Ink, mineral colors and gofun on silk. Japan, Taisho era, 1920s.

Image 74 x 32 inches
Mounting 90 x 40 inches. Wooden scroll ends.

Some minor cracks and losses to gofun, otherwise fine condition

Midsize Buddhist shrine, zushi, with double doors on front and back, housing a suiseki (scholar’s rock) placed on a lotus base. Zushi black lacquer on outside with brown copper hardware engraved with flowers, the roof decorated above the doors with cranes painted in black ink. Inside covered with gold lacquer, the pillars decorated with lotus petals. Japan, Edo period, 19th century.

H zushi 9 inches

Some traces of usage (chips on lotus base, rubbing of painting), one door with minor damage on inside, otherwise excellent condition.

Fairly large zushi hand shrine in the shape of a lotus petal. Double sided, made of sandalwood.
Inside each half is a deep relief carving of Buddhist deities. On one side the three-eyed Aizen Myoo with a lion crown, sitting on a lotus base in the clouds before a red mandorla. His six hands hold Vajra and ghanta, bow and arrow, and lotus bud and pouch. On the other side the two-armed Kannon bosatsu, holding a lotus bud in the left hand, sitting on a lotus base in the clouds. Inside decorated in gold, red, blue and black for details, green mineral color for the background.
The outside decorated in gold lacquer over a black lacquer ground: loose lotus petals and a bonji on each side (one bonji probably for Fugen and one bonji A (for Amida)).
Japan, Edo period, around 1800.

H ca. 3-7/8 inches

Inside in excellent condition with minimal abrasions of the blue in the hair and of the green background pigment. Black lacquer on the outside with some losses. Above the bonji for Fugen (?) a restoration. Wood a bit warped.

Rare

Tiny zushi, or hand shrine, with double doors on two sides. Inside a two-sided reliquary with tiny stones, in the shape of a flaming jewel, or tama, on a lotus base in gilt copper alloy and glass. Shrine made of kiri wood (paulonia), inside covered with lacquer with nashiji gold sprinkle. Outside mounted in gilt metal hardware with nanako decoration. Japan, Edo period, 18th century, possibly earlier.

H 2 ½ inches

Some age and use related chipping along the edges, minor damage in the lacquer, and nicks and dents, hinges a bit weak, rubbed and bent, but all in all in very good condition

Finely cast bronze censer on four linked feet with very elegant flower décor on the body and fretwork on the rim, patinated in a rich brown. Bottom decorated in low relief with repeating, extremely fine fretwork of faces. Seal on bottom: Dai-Nihon Bunsei nen Seimin sei. Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.
H H 2-7/8 x diam. 6 ½ inches.
Excellent condition

Murata Seimin (1761-1837), bronze sculptor active in Edo, well-known for his fine casting of bronze vessels and animals.

Cedar wooden ‘post-hide’ or hashira-kakushi that is used as a decoration of one of the posts in a room, or a horizontal post of the tokonoma (niche). The post-hide is the same width as the pillar posts in a Japanese house, hiding it thus almost completely in width.
Cedar wood, the front stained dark brown and decorated in mineral with a dragon. Seal on either end of the plaque. Inscription in black ink on the back. Paper label on the back, explaining the symbolism of the piece, in English, and identifying the piece as a gift. Japan, Meiji era, 19th century.

W 39½ x H 3-7/8 inches

Few stress cracks in cedar wood, paint chipped in several places, all in all very good condition.

From a private US collection

Large, relatively tall chawan, as used in the tea ceremony. Light brown coarse stoneware covered with a celadon colored translucent glaze with brown speckles and with a purple and blue-green splash on the front. Unsigned. Japan, Aizu, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Showa era, circa 1973.
Comes with the original fitted wooden tomobako, inscribed on the outside … chawan; on the inside signed ‘made by Ryoichi, 7th generation of the Munakata kiln’ and with the seal Munakata-gama (Munakata kiln).

H 3-1/8 x Dia 4-1/2 inches

Perfect condition.

Munakata Ryoichi (b. 1933). For more information on the artist (in Japanese), see www.munakatagama.net

Low tea bowl of irregular round shape. Raku-yaki with red glaze, decorated with black brushed-on spots and white patches, with fine crackle over all. Inside the foot a small area is left uncovered. Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.

. H 2-3/8 x W 5-1/4 inches

Minimal traces of usage, short crack

Cedar wooden ‘post-hide’ or hashira kakushi that is used as a decoration of the vertical post in a room that is not a corner post, or the vertical post of the tokonoma (niche). The post-hide is the same width as the the vertical pillar posts in a Japanese house, hiding it thus almost completely in width.
Dark stained cedar wood, the sides covered in black lacquer, the front inlaid in ceramic with Raiden the thunder god who is angling with an anchor for one of his thunder drums that dropped out of the sky. Signed on inlaid ceramic plaque: Kenzan. From the Ogata Kenzan studios, Japan, Meiji era, 19th century.

H ca. 42 x W 4 ¾ inches

Chip to the drum on the bottom, lacquer chips on the sides, all in all very good condition.

From a private US collection

Very small stoneware chaire tea caddy, used in the tea ceremony during the colder months. Squat body with rounded shoulder and relatively wide mouth. Fine dark gray stoneware with yellow, brown and lavender colored glazes layered over each other and dripping down the body, with a fine thin crackle. Also glazed on inside. Seto ware, Owari Province, Japan, Edo period, 17th century or earlier.

H 2.25 inches.

Three brown lacquer repaired areas around the mouth, several longer and shorter very old vertical cracks, not in the least destabilizing the piece. All in all very good condition.

Provenance: Private collection of chaire, purchased at Christie's London, 2010; ex collection Louis Gonse; ex collection George Haviland; a catalog clipping comes with the piece, dating it to the 15th century.

Chaire with high, flat shoulder. Whitish gray stoneware with dark brown, partially transparent glaze with ochre colored splashes on shoulder, dripping down the body in thin clouds. Perhaps Seto region. Japan, 18th century.

H 3¾ inches

Some scraping of glaze on lip and body, consistent with age, all in all fine condition

Private collection of chaire (collection no. 54); bought from ‘private dealer’ (according to label inside piece); collection number in black lacquer written on bottom: 0-Ja-2-TOK-31-G

Irregularly shaped cylindrical chaire. Tea caddy used in the tea ceremony during the colder months. Dark brown or black glaze with one thick splash of yellow and green glaze. Footring. Raku style. Japan, 17th/18th century.

H 3¾ inches

Firing crack at lip, several old gold lacquer repairs at lip and foot and bottom, all in all fine condition

This probably was a drinking cup (mukozuke) originally and was converted into a tea caddy at some point.

Provenance: Private collection of chaire; purchased at Christie's South Kensington Japanese Art and Design Including Arts of the Samurai Wednesday 9 November 2011, Lot #81; Cleveland Museum of Art (paper labels TR2741; 17 146; and 17 146A); several other collection labels.

Stoneware water jar or mizusashi as used in the tea ceremony with round bottom developing into a diamond shaped edge. Greyish smooth stoneware, decorated with horizontal grooves, covered with brown iridescent glaze on the outside and with a mottled greenish-yellow glaze on the inside, dripping over the outside edge and down. Black lacquered, diamond-shaped coved. Takatori style, Japan, early Showa era, circa 1930-1950s.

H without cover 5¾ in.; with cover 6½ in.

Jar in fine condition, cover with 2 chips.

Tall and slender, almost cylindrical chaire. Brown fine stoneware with spiraling engraving on top, covered with olive green translucent glaze with fine crackle, and with a white and blue triangular patch dripping down. Seto region, Japan, 18th century.
Comes with wooden storage box.

H 6-1/8 inches

Fine condition

Provenance: Private collection of chaire (collection no. 17); purchased at Sotheby’s New York Important Japanese Works of Art, Sale 4599Y, May 6, 1981, Lot #314; collection c.m.s.p (oval handwritten label with no. 150)