Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Lacquer (105)

Antique Japanese hokai, lidded container for Ka-awase shell game. This unusual square shaped hokai has a footed base and it's sides are fashioned with many horizontal ridges. With faceted corners and intricate gold and black lacquer. A flower and lattice motif with reserves of birds and young pine shoots. The interior of the box is lacquered a dark brownish black. Extensive gilt copper hardware with incised details of scrolling vines...

Antique Japanese lacquer suzuri bako (writing box) and matching large stationary box inspired by Korin Ogata of the Rinpa School tradition. The larger box was used for writing paper while the smaller box was used for writing implements. Inside the suzuri bako is an ink stone and a metal water dropper. Both boxes are decorated entirely with a highly raised design of blossoming cherry branches on a gold lacquer ground. Each flower is made of inlaid shell...

Antique Japanese rectangular box decorated with gold and silver dragonflies on a black lacquer ground. The lid is fastened on by a green chord. Inside is a removable tray lacquered with gold and silver crickets in wisps of golden grass. This box comes in a cedar tomobako.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 5 1/8" high x 7 3/4" long x 5 1/2" wide

Antique Japanese makie lacquer suzuri bako (writing box) and matching large stationary box signed with bold signatures on the bottom reading: 光琳　青々Kо̄rin Seisei, an artist name used by Ogata Kōrin (1658 – 1716).
Both boxes have domed lids and are decorated entirely in gold lacquer with highly raised designs of flowers and silver pine branches. The flowers are further embellished with inlaid shell...

Antique Japanese sewing box. Made of lacquered wood and inlaid with painted shells. Intended for export. Beautiful details of colorful pheasants and peony blossoms. There is a separate drop-in tray with many small compartments for sewing tools.

Age: Meiji Period (circa early 1900's)

Dimensions: 5 1/8" high x 15 3/8" wide x 11 1/4" deep (when closed)

Antique Japanese small, round, lidded box. Made with metal body covered with lacquer and decorated with a gold lacquer scene of a bridge and a weeping willow tree. Intricate raised machi-e details of waves and willow leaves. Delicate nashiji on the ground around the tree.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 3 1/4" wide x 7/8" high

Antique Japanese gold lacquer inro with a scene of a waterfall on one side and a sage on the other. The water crashes around rocks where chrysanthemums blossom. On the reverse, a sage sits among the flowers at the base of the falls. The inro case has 4 compartments with interiors covered in a dense nashiji lacquer. The ojime is made of red lacquer and is carved with a dragon. The netsuke is made of boxwood and carved in the shape of a seed pod...

Pair of Japanese antique hibachis. Round in form and carved to appear as if made of woven basketry. Spilling over the rims and made to look as though bursting forth from holes in the baskets are plump clusters of grapes, vines and leaves. The "basket" portion of the hibachis is lacquered a deep red while vines and leaves are lacquer a dark green. The grapes a lacquered a deep red. There are metal inserts for coals and ashes...

Antique Japanese lacquer raised tray. Standing on four legs with square frame and decorated all over with scrolling vines and pine bows in maki-e lacquer on a black ground with clouds of gold nashiji. Prominent in the design is the appearance of the aoi mon (crest) of the Tokugawa clan, marking this tray as the property of the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: 8" high x 14 1/2" wide x 14" deep

Beautiful example of an 18th Japanese suzuribako (calligraphy box) made with a gold maki-e lacquer scene of huts near a mountain stream. The interior of the box holds rests for brushes and a compartment for an ink stone as well as a small silver water dropper. The entire inside including the underside of the lid is covered in a lovely dense nashiji (fine gold flakes suspended in clear lacquer) with young pine branches in maki-e lacquer...

Antique Japanese rectangular lacquer stationary box with a large parrot sitting on a corn stock and eyeing an ear of corn. Raised maki-e lacquer in gold and various shades of dark green and brown. The sides are further decorated with more ears of corn (a grasshopper sitting on one). The lacquer work contains great details like the texture of the parrot's feather and the stringy silk of the corn...

Antique Japanese suzuki-bako, calligraphy box. Lacquered with a profusion of wildflowers in gold maki-e technique on black lacquer ground. The underside of the lid is beautifully preserved with more wild flowers growing near a swirling stream. This scene is also rendered in maki-e but includes some flashes of red leaves and a silvery moon on a black lacquer ground with clouds of nashiji...

Antique Japanese cylindrical hibachi made of bent suginoki (cryptomeria) and decorated with a maki-e lacquer scene of a family of chickens in a bamboo grove. The mother hen and two chicks look for food on the ground while their father rooster looks back at his third little chick. Bamboo details are made of inlaid shell and the background is flecked in gold. With a copper insert.

Age: Meiji/Taisho Period (early 20th century)

Dimensions: 7 5/8" high x 10 1/4" wide

Antique Japanese round lacquered wood container decorated on both sides with a karakusa (octopus vine) pattern and blossoms around the central aoi mon of the Tokugawa shogunate. Gold lacquer on a dark brownish black ground. Possible for archer bow strings.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: 3 3/4" wide diameter x 1 3/4" deep

Antique Japanese small lacquer safe box with hinged door and 3 small interior drawers. Decorated on all sides including the drawer fronts with detailed harakusa (octopus vine) design in fine maki-e lacquer on a dense nashiji ground. The drawers are covered on all sides in fine nashiji gold flakes. Hardware is made of silver and incised with a similar scrolling vine motif.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1868)

Dimensions: 3 1/4" high x 3" wide x 5 3/4" deep

Antique Japanese fine lacquered kogo box for holding incense...

Antique Japanese safe box with hinged door and 3 interior drawers. The outside is beautifully decorated all over with raised gold and colored lacquer scenes of birds and morning glories, grape vines, and pomegranates on a black lacquer ground. The door opens to reveal drawers decorated with butterflies on a nashiji ground. The inside of the door, with peaches. The inside of the drawers is lacquered black.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 8 1/4" high x 7 3/8" ...

Antique Japanese small censor carved of wood and decorated with a gold maki-e lacquer design of flowers and grasses behind a bamboo garden fence. The gold lacquer stands out against a black lacquer ground. The gilt bronze lid is in the shape of a lattice work basket. Charming and detailed.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 2 1/2" high x 2 3/4" wide

Antique Japanese small round hibachi carved of kiri (paulownia) wood and lined with copper. It is decorated with a still-life display of a fishing basket, fisherman's rod and the catch of the day. Beautifully captured in raised gold maki-e lacquer, the fishing basket and fish have a life-like appearance. The large fish that has just been caught glitters with inlaid shell. And could that be Ebisu's hat on the ground nearby?

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 8 1/4...

An antique Japaese tray in the form of a banana leaf in green natural Urushi lacquer with its original Tomobako. Beautiful artist rendition of a folded top to the leaf that has an edge which naturally cuts up. Fully carved and lacquered both top and bottom. Age: Meiji/Taisho (1900-1920)

Dimensions: 23 1/2" Long by 10 1/2" Wide

Antique Japanese fubako, box for holding letters. Made of lacquered wood with a design of young pine and blossoming plum branches. Both box and lid are decorated in maki-e gold and silver lacquer over a delicate nashiji on a black lacquer ground. The interior has clouds of dense gold nashiji and two mon on the underside of the lid.

Age: Edo Period (18th/19th century)

Dimensions: 10 1/4" long x 3 1/2" wide x 2 3/4" deep

Antique Japanese kogo box (for incense). Round in form and made of lacquered wood. Decorated with a scene of a garden gate and a wild thicket of grasses, vines and flowers under a full moon. The gate and flora are made with maki-e lacquer and shell inlay while the full moon is made of silver. The interior and bottom of the box is covered with gold nishiji on a black lacquer ground.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 3" wide x 1 5/8" high

Antique Japanese lacquer tebako (accessories box), made of lacquered wood with dense gold nishiji and a gold maki-e lacquer design of flowers, possibly clematis, on a vine. The rim is made of pewter and the interior is lacquered with a spars nishiji on a black lacquer ground. Comes with kiri wood tomobako.

Age: Tokogawa Era, early 18th century

Dimensions: 2" high x 2 7/8" wide x 2 7/8" wide

Antique Japanese lacquer suzuribako decorated with a pair of deer in raden (shell inlay) and lead on a black lacquer ground. The box opens to reveal a writing set including a lacquered copper rectangular water dropper, an ink stone with brush rests on either side against a background of black lacquer with Rinpa style gold maki-e designs of curling plant fronds.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 10 1/2" long x 9 1/2" wide x 3 1/4" high

Antique Japanese round hibachi made of kiri (paulownia) wood and lacquered with highly raised maki-e design of irises and hydrangeas. Exuberant blossoms in gold and black lacquer with shell inlay. With a copper insert. This hibachi was originally used as a household brazier.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 9" high x 15" wide

Antique Japanese figure of seated Quan yin, made of carved cinnabar lacquer. She is seated on a lotus throne and holds a scroll in her hands. Her robes are carved all over with floral and Buddhist motifs. Her facial expression is serene, befitting her role as goddess of compassion.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 6 1/4" high x 3 1/2" wide x 3 1/4" deep

Antique Japanese lacquer box for incense. Decorated with scenes of flying geese over gently swirling water and marsh grasses in maki-e lacquer on a black lacquer ground. On the reverse side, pheasants and chicks peck among flowers. The interior of the box is fitted with a separate tray decorated with seven children playing with three dogs in maki-e and color lacquer on a black ground. The tray stands on 4 small feet and the sides are decorated with tiny scrolling vines and butterflies. The ...

Antique Japanese lacquer with gold shrine incense stand. Hand carved wood with black lacquer. Gold gilt floral details seen on all sides. Square flat top open to hold an incenser.
The burning of incense in Japan began during the 6th century (the Asuka period) with the introduction of Buddhism, which uses incense during rituals and ceremonies.

Meiji Period (1868 - 1912)

Dimensions: 11 1/2" square x 17 3/4" high

A unique antiqueJapanese suiban inlaid with natural mother of pearl red lacquer over wood. Suiban are traditionally shallow oval or rectangular dishes used to display viewing stones (suiseki). Suiseki. Japanese viewing stones. 水石 - Suiseki is the Japanese art of stone appreciation, which values aspects like stability, longevity and immortality. Formed through time by wind and water, stones can take several sizes and shapes, reminding us of natural objects.

Beautiful Origina...

Japanese lacquer kogo incense container in Korin-style with rabbits gazing at the moon. One rabbit made of quail egg mosaic and the other of silvered lacquer sitting in the reeds. Square shaped container with mitered corners. Top with silvered moon. Tomobako with typed old labeling.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)
Size: 2 1/4"H x 1 5/8"W x 1 5/8"D

Antique Japanese large lacquer document box decorated with a design of climbing clematis vines in full bloom. Gold maki-e lacquer with details in gold nishji lacquer on some of the leaves. All on a black lacquer ground. The sides of both the lid and body of the box are carved with a recessed area where reddish orange lacquer has been applied over a loose material, creating a woven texture. Hardware rings on the sides.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)
Dimensions: 8" high x 9 1/4" wi...

Antique Japanese lacquer suzuribako (calligraphy box) decorated with young pine shoots and a fruiting tachibana (wild orange) tree near a small stream. Gold maki-e lacquer on a dense gold nishiji ground. The underside of the lid has a continuing scene of the stream winding through rocks with sprouting bamboo in gold maki-e lacquer on a spars nishiji on black lacquer ground. The interior of the body of the box is decorated with small sprigs of young pine in gold maki-e lacquer on a ground of s...

Antique Japanese small lacquer tebako (accessory box) decorated with a design of wildflowers that wraps around the sides of the box. Gold maki-e lacquer with fine detail and a mist of gold flecks on a black lacquer ground. The entire interior as well as the underside of the box is covered in a dense gold nishiji.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 1 1/4" H x 2" W x 2 3/4" L

Antique Japanese small lacquer tebako (accessory box) with image of a crane standing on the bank of a lake or stream. Looking up at the crane from the swirling water, is an ancient turtle. A pine tree and fruit tree grow on the hillside behind the crane. Fine gold maki-e lacquer with dense gold nishiji on a black lacquer ground. The interior of the box is entirely covered in gold nishiji. The rim of both the bottom and lid of the box is edged in silver.

Meiji Period (1868-1912) ...

Antique Japanese small lacquer tebako (accessory box). Rectangular form with rounded edges and decorated with Chrysanthemums on the lid. The whole box is covered inside and out with a dense gold nishiji background. The rim of both the lid and the body of the box are edged in bronze.

Edo Period (18th century)

Dimensions: 2 1/8" high x 3 5/8" long x 3 1/8" wide

Antique Japanese gold lacquer inro with 4 compartments. Decorated with a scene depicting a cottage high in the mountains. On one side, a small stream meanders by a thatched roof building with doors opening to a garden surrounded by a low fence and opened by a tall gate. A large, blossoming plum tree stretches it's branches dramatically over the roof and a mist floats over the top of the scene. The other side of the inro depicts a churning river with ragged outcroppings of rock. In the dist...

Japanese inro with 5 compartments decorated all around with a scene of a mountain stream running down hill through rocks and low tree branches. On one side of the inro, the stream falls over rocks and continues on the other side of the inro in a striated current. Various trees including blossoming fruit trees and pines spring from the rocks. Pine saplings emerge from a gold mist in the foreground. Created with a fine raised gold maki-e lacquer technique and inlaid with gold metal flecks. T...

A small antique Japanese Lacquer box with a scene of river, pampas and clouds. The interior has dense nashiji lacquer (fine gold flecks). Used to store incense.

Date: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 4"long X 2.5" wide X 1" tall

An antique Japanese Hibachi with Maki-E gilt lacquer and inlay in a melon shape made of kiri wood. The gilt lacquer designs are of a bird in peonies and ivy trailing around the edge. Gilt nashiji flakes and inlay add depth to the nature scene. Interior has an old patina.

Date: Meiji period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 11" diameter X 8.5" tall

Antique Japanese lacquer manju (netsuke toggle to be worn on obi), made in a round form of lacquered wood and intricately inlaid with tiny flakes of gold and shell. The inside is lacquered with a dense nishiji lacquer (made of tiny flecks of gold suspended in lacquer). Somada School.

Edo Period (19th century)

Dimensions: 1 5/8' wide x 3/4" high

An antique Japanese three-case Inro. The Inro is reddish brown cherry bark lacquered with a dragonfly hovering over a lotus leave and pond. The other side is a continuation of the lotus leaf motif with small gold leaf flowers. The interior has a continuation of the cherry bark surface. The Inro is signed by 'Zeshin" (Shibata Zeshin 1807-1891) with a cursive monogram. Fitted with an orange oval ojime bead.

Date: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 2.25" tall X 1.5"

An exquisite Japanese gold lacquer Inro of boat scene with five compartments. The inside compartments are covered with dense nashiji lacquer (fine gold flecks). Underneath the bottom compartment is the artist's signature, KAJIKAWA, with red chop. Inro (seal basket) are small decorative containers that hang from the waist. They originate at the end of the 16th century and were worn by men to hold seals and herbal or other medicines. By the 18th century, they became decorative accessories and we...

A Japanese gold lacquer Inro with five compartments. A relief of a pair of silver horses dominates the landscape scene of a seaside village with drying racks of fish and pines and clouds in the background. The horses are galloping over a creek with foliage. The reverse side shows a lone horse under a fruit tree and thatched cottage. The inside compartments are covered with dense nashiji lacquer (fine gold flecks). The cord has an agate ojime. Inro (seal basket) are small decorative containers ...

Nagoro banana leaf tray lacquer over wood. The black lacquer shines through the red to reveal the ribs and veins of the leaf. In the literati tradition, banana leaves were used by scholar recluses as paper to write calligraphy. Later, this motif was incorporated into other forms of art making the image one of the symbols of the literati aesthetics.

Date: Tiasho circa 1920

Dimensions: 16" x 6" X 3/4"

Antique Japanese small kobako (incense box) with inside tray. The outside is decorated with a scene of a garden fence, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas and daisies in gold lacquer on a nashiji ground. The interior is covered in fine nashiji. The small tray stands on tiny feet and has a pavilion scene with twisted pines all in gold lacquer on a matching nashiji ground.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 4" high x 6" wide x 4" deep.

An exquisite antique Japanese large box made of keyaki (elm) wood burl and decorated with a design of a bamboo garden gate, tall grasses, chrysanthemum blossoms and the moon. Very high raised maki-e lacquer in gold and red with shell inlay. Tied with it's original tassel and with tomobako. Provenance: from a family living close to Kyoto's Imperial Palace.

Meiji Period (Mid 19th century)

Dimensions: 10 1/4" high x 10" wide x 12" deep.

Antique Japanese red lacquer trunk. Hardware is made of copper and ornately incised. Papered on the inside.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 14" high x 24" wide x 16 1/4" deep.

Japanese antique Shibayama inlaid horn vase, decorated with lotuses in a pond with flying cranes and song birds in shell inlay and gold maki-e lacquer. Inscribed with three characters and mounted on a wooden stand decorated w maki-e lacquer and carved design of scrolling vines.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 8 5/8" high

Japanese inro with a large standing bull, frontally positioned with head lowered and looking ahead at the viewer. From the ring in his nose is a rope leading off to the side. The reverse image is a scene, entirely in gold lacquer, of rolling hills and pine saplings in the foreground. The inro opens to reveal a compartment lacquered red on the inside with a small removable inset tray.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 2 3/8" high x 3" wide

Antique Japanese lacquer stand with intricate mother-of-pearl inlay and painted details. The top depicts a dragon floating in swirling clouds. Each cloud is a fine dusting of different colors of shell inlay. The base is decorated with a tiger near a rocky waterfall. The stand has two arching legs which end in shoulders and apron with reserves depicting kirin, a phoenix and chimera. Every space is inlaid with pattern work all on a black lacquer ground.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Japanese antique inro with one compartment, carved of wood and lacquered a very dark brown. On one side, a silvery bat flies through the air. On the other side, a fishing net hangs to dry on a fence. The fishing net is done in gold lacquer and the fence is made of shell inlay. The inside of the inro case is lacquered a deep red with gold edging.

Late Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 2 1/8" high x 3" wide

Antique Japanese inro with three compartments, made of wood with gold lacquer and inlaid with gold flecks. One side is decorated with a pair of cranes and sprouting pines. The other side of the inro depicts an ancient turtle who carries, on his back, a large rock formation. Out of the rock sprouts a plum tree, a pine tree and bamboo - together called Sho chiku bai or "The Three Friends of Winter". The inside of each compartment is cover with dense nishji lacquer (fine gold flecks). Signed...

Small Japanese antique jewelry box, decorated all over with scenes of tiny chrysanthemums made of gold and silver mixed metal inlay on a gold lacquer (kinji) ground. The tiny safe box door is hinged and opens to reveal a scene of a golden bird on a blossoming plum branch near a fence. This scene spans both the interior of the door and three tiny interior drawers. The blossoms are made of gold and silver lacquer and the ground is a lovely dense and fine nishiji (gold flecks). Each drawer is...

Of Steeply conical form with a bulbous top. This jingasa is constructed of hide and cloth, shaped in a mold, lacquered in reddish brown lacquer, with a gilt rising sun mon on the rounded apex.
The samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their retainers and footsoldiers (ashigaru), used several types of jingasa made from iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather. Kasa shares its etymology with the Japanese word for "umbrella" (which is also pronounced "kasa", but written 傘). ...

A circular form rising to a shallow point at the center, this jingasa is made of hide and cloth shaped in a mold, then finally black lacquered. It is decorated in front with a gold lacquered mon of an enzo which represents eternity. Mounted on a custom iron stand.

Edo Period 19th Century

Size: 18.5" diameter x 4" H (29.5" H on stand)

A wonderful patina lacquered Japanese black power container. Consisting of lacquered washi paper wooven tightly onto a natural gourd. The woven basketry work is detailed with the original attached stopper and copper lined interior neck.

Meiji period (1868-1912)

Size: 7.5" L x 3.5" W

Antique Japanese light weight Jingasa (Samurai hat) made with a basketweave bamboo and paper coated in black and red lacquer. The front of the hat has the gilt paulownia leaf mon (family crest) with the top decorated with a three prong yari forming a trident.

Edo age (circa 1830's)

Size: 15.5" W x 3.5"

Unusual Antique Japanese maki-e lacquer Jingasa (Samurai helmet) decorated in low relief lacquer work of a fierce looking red Oni with piercing gold eyes and teeth . A gilt lacquer mon, or family crest is seen below the Oni representing daffodils. The underside of the helmet is smooth, shiny black lacquer.
The samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their retainers and footsoldiers (ashigaru), used several types of jingasa made from iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather. Kas...

An exquisite Japanese pillow, the body woven with red pigment lacquer, the ends lacquered in black with gilt lacquer. One end depicts the mythical creature Baku, said to devour bad dreams. The other end is a floral scene with beautiful nashiji gold flakes.

Meiji Period (1868 - 1912)

Size: 8.5" L x 6.75" D x 4" H

Large Antique Japanese Zushi, or portable Buddhist shrine, with black lacquer exterior decorated by large areas of metal plating embossed with intricate floral designs and double-jointed doors. The interior is gilt lacquered with emblems of mandarin orange blossoms on the top paneling, associated with the Tachibana family. Early 19th Century. Size: 33" H x 27" L x 19.5" D