Catalog (260)

Wooden sculpture of an old man and woman taking a break from the rice harvest. They are sitting on an elevation. He is preparing his pipe, taking tobacco out of his tonkotsu. She is getting out a lunch box and two tea cups, while the tea kettle is at her feet. Behind them a sheaf of rice and two sickles. Perhaps a modern reference to Jo and Uba, the old couple on the island Takasago who symbolize longevity.

Signed on bottom: the 74 year old man, Tomoyuki.

Probably Taisho era (1912-1926) or early Showa at the latest.

H ca. 11 inches, W at bottom 10 ½ inches.

Few thin age/stress cracks, all in all fine condition.

Chawan in Raku style, made in dry lacquer technique (kanshitsu) simulating ceramic. The lacquer is applied in such a way that you see small crevices and patches of red and brownish black lacquer in the same way we see it in Raku ware. Japan, Meiji era.

H ca. 3 ½ inches, dia. Ca. 4 ½ inches.

Excellent condition.

Comes with brocade pouch and plain wooden box.

Zushi with beautiful hardware on the front; inside the figure of Yakushi Nyorai (medicine Buddha), sitting on a high lotus throne, holding the medicine jar in his left hand and with his right hand making the gesture of picking medical herbs. He is surrounded by 16 rakan, painted onto the inside of the doors (not decals). On the mardorla behind his head two apsara are painted, playing the sho and the flute. High quality carving. Wood decorated in mineral colors and gold. Japan, Edo period, likely late 18th century, perhaps early 19th century at the latest.
H of case ca. 9 ¼ inches.
Painting on the doors a bit darkened, slightly chipping; some lotus petal with tiny chip, otherwise in very good condition.

Sculpture of Shomen Kongo, standing with 6 arms, holding ghanta and sword, bow and arrow, halberd and chakra. Shomen Kongo protects against demons and diseases. Wood stained black, with metal parts. Japan, Edo period, shortly after 1800.
H ca. 11 inches.
Sword missing, few traces of usage. All in all very good condition.

Small shrine holding the image of the Buddha Dainichi Nyorai, sitting on a lotus base, before a circular mandorla. Doors decorated on the inside with an exquisitely painted motif of star-shaped flowers. Wood decorated in mineral colors and gold. Very high quality. Thin metal for mandorla and crown. Japan, Edo period, 18th century.
H of case ca. 5 inches.
Most of the crown missing, some traces of usage but all in all in excellent condition.

Hanging scroll. Benzaiten mandala. The eight-armed deity, bearing arms and a coiled snake (the deity Ugajin) on her head, sits on a lotus-leaf-seat, flanked by Daikoku and Bishamonten. Before her are the 15 disciples, or jugo doji, above her the sun and the moon.
Ink, mineral colors and gold on silk. Japan, Muromachi period, around 1500.
Painted area: H 38 3/8 in. x W 18 5/8 in.
Few horizontal creases, but all in all in excellent condition.

A similar painting of Benzaiten and the 15 disciples is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, inventory no. 11.4107. Even though it dates from an earlier part of the Muromachi period, and the composition is different, there is a striking similarity in the details on the garments and in the hairdo of the doji and the size of the painting. The Tokyo National Museum holds another comparable painting under inventory no. C0018069 /A-1228.

Very small shrine holding the figure of Dakiniten riding a white (or silver) fox. Dakiniten is worshiped at the Toyokawa Inari temples. The zushi is on the inside encased behind a glass pane, surrounded by painted treasure symbols. These kind of zushi are sold at the temple to the patrons and other visitors. Polychromed wood with abundant gold and silver Japan, dated Taisho 13 (1924).
H of case ca. 4 inches.
Comes with original fitted kiri-wood storage box, inscribed with the receiver’s name (juyo), a Kyoto address, dated Taisho 13, 9th month, 17th day, Toyokawakaku and stamped with a red seal. Excellent condition.

Enpukuzan Toyokawa, Myogonji is a temple dedicated to the eleven headed Kannon and Dakiniten and the fox Inari. It was originally founded in 1441 by Tokai Gieki. Most of these temples were rebuilt in the Meiji era or even later, hence many of the products of these temples are from modern times. Worshipers traditionally are merchants.

Small shrine containing the figure of the sitting 11 headed Kannon, holding a flask in his left hand, his head crowned with the 10 heads of the different Buddhist deities, including Amida. He is sitting on a lotus throne that holds inside the figure of a reclining lion. The back of the zushi has a small moveable segment (now glued shut) that is supposed to reveal something in the base of the Kannon. The doors are decorated with inscribed ihai or ancestral tablets set in a field of autumn flowers and river. Japan, late Edo period, 19th century.
H of case 7 inches.
Traces of usage, mainly on the in- and outside of the case, moveable segment glued.

Small shrine with a wooden sculpture of Jizo, standing with a jewel in one hand (which are missing), his staff (which is missing) in the other. Here he is represented as Danda Jizo, assisting those who are suffering in hell and saving small children from the wheel of rebirth. The paintings on the doors show naked children chased by demons in hell. Polychromed wood with delicate details. Metal madorla. Japan, late Edo period, around 1800.
Height zushi: ca. 7 ½ inches.
Paintings on the doors rubbed, hardware fragile but functional. Jizo’s hands and attributes missing, glue stains on his back and feet.

Rare subject. Painting on the left door shows a human pleading with a demon holding a giant club, while below a child is being led away by a female soul. The right hand door shows a large red demon with club, chasing a child, while mothers seem to be wailing.

Kabuto maedate, or ornament that sits in the front of the Japanese helmet. Dragonfly. Gilded iron. Japan, 20th century.
L ca. 6 ¾ inches.
Good condition, one leg damaged.

Kabuto maedate, or ornament that sits in the front of the Japanese helmet. Long-horned monster face with fangs and pointy ears and tufts of hair. Polychromed and gilded wood with horse hair and metal wire. Japan, 19th/ 20th century.
H 6 5/8 inches, W 6 5/8 inches.
Good condition, ear restored, a few abrasions

Large storage jug of typical Shigaraki stoneware with small white inclusions, made in three sections, decorated in multicolor enamel and gold with a cat making a mouse train come to an abrupt halt. A cat, high back, hissing at the mouse going at the head of a train, makes the train come to a dead stop and the following mice tumble, roll, spill in a ripple effect. Funny details: tumbling palanquin, spilling fish, flying papers. Either folk art or export. Japan, 20th century.
Height: ca. 18.5 inches.
Unsigned work from a studio that decorates household ceramics with funny or fantastic images in overglaze enamels that can be fired at low temperatures.

Pipecase of the otoshizutsu form carved out of stag antler with a décor in low relief of a tiger crouching on a rock with sprigs of bamboo surrounding the rock. Surrounding the himotoshi is more bamboo. Unsigned. Japan, 19th century.
H 7 7/8 inches
Worn with old damages in thinner areas of the stag horn and small hole approximately where the pipe head would be, further scraped off with a knife.

Study of an elephant holding a piece of wood with its trunk, his skin hanging loosely about him. Dark brown patinated, light weight wood, the eyes inlaid in buffalo horn, the tusks bone. Japan, 19th century.
Length: 15.5 inches (39.1 cm)
Pupil to one eye missing, otherwise fine condition.

Hand shrine, or zushi, of the triptych type. Inside, in the middle section sits Amida Nyorai on a lotus base, flanked by Seishi and Kannon bosatsu. Inside the left panel, and inside the right panel tennin (apsara) flying over a lotus pond. Image of Western Paradise.
Sandal wood. The outside covered in a dark, translucent lacquer, sprinkled with clouds of nashiji and on the front two kiri-mon in slightly raised gold-takamakie and the overlap in the middle decorated with gold lacquer karakusa over silver lacquer background, imitating engraved hardware. The inside carved in raised relief in different levels, the background covered in lapis lazuli, the carving decorated with gold paint and touches of malachite. Silver hinges in the shape of butterflies.
Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.
Height: ca. 3 ½ inches; width when open: 5 ¾ inches (9 cm; 14.5 cm).
Lapis lazuli somewhat rubbed, all in all very good condition.

Hand shrine, or zushi, in the shape of a lotus bud, carved in two halves. On the inside, on one side the standing figure of Amida Nyorai on a lotus base, his hands in mudra. The other half of the lotus bud is decorated with a mutsume pattern (imitating a triaxial weaving) in kirikane (very thin strips of gold foil). Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.
Very light, soft wood. On the outside red lacquer, covered with leaf gold, that is partly rubbed off again. On the inside much of the carving is decorated with brush applied gold, and kirikane for the background of both halves.
Japan, Edo period, late 18th, early 19th century.
Total height: 4 ½ inch (11.4 cm).
One hand of the Buddha missing, the other glued, lower lip chafed. Few chips and dents at edges, all in all very good condition.

Dorrington-Ward, Carol (ed.), Fans from the east. New York: Debrett's Peerage Limited/The Viking Press 1978.
Hard cover binding with dust jacket.
Essays on fans in China (Julia Hutt), Japan (Joe Earle), Southeast Asia (Nancy Armstrong) an on Chinoiserie with 29 color plates and 79 b/w illustrations.
Dust jackets with minor abrasions (shelf wear) and covers slightly warped.

Schuster, Felicia and Cecilia Wolseley, Vases of the sea. Far Eastern porcelain and other treasures. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1974. Hard cover binding with dust jacket.
Book on vases from China and from Japan made of porcelain, bronze, jade and cloisonne, and also a chapter on ivory and on lacquer. Numerous color illustrations.
Few unimportant traces of usage on the dust jacket, all in all in near new condition.