This rare 19th Century Bunraku Puppet of Osome, and rare scroll painting of Osome came from a private collection of theater art in Japan. The puppet is a heroine in the play, Shinpan Utazaimon Nozakimura no Dan (Osome Hisamatsu). It is made of wood and covered with many layers of gofun (crushed oyster shell), with painted features, dressed in a sumptuous brocade silk kimono and obi. Her head moves up and down, and from side to side. Bamboo stand is included...

An image of a boy hanging holly, directed by the shrouded figure of a kimono wrapped beauty seen through the doorway, fresh bottles of sake at her feet promising a night of entertainment. Excellent detail in pigment on silk bordered in fine patterned silk with bone rollers and enclosed in a wooden box. The scroll measures 21 x 75 inches (54 x 191 cm) and is in fine condition with a few minor age spots in the lower left edge of the painting...

Burnt yellow glaze streaks down the body to form encrustations of glazz on the base of this organic looking vessel by Hori Ichiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is 10 inches (25.5 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
Hori Ichiro (b. 1952) graduated the Tajimi School of Industrial Design and apprenticed under Kato Kozo...

A very cool Ginsai covered dish by Banura Shiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Bright silver swirls to the center alternated by wrinkled lead colored glaze. It is 8 inches (20.5 cm) diameter and in excellent condition.
Shiro was born the fourth son of Living National Treasure for Lacquerware. His sensitivity to textures may stem from that exacting influence...

Each uniquely carved row of frets on this large textured koro is a variegated shade of raw clay by Matsuzaki Ken enclosed in the original signed wooden box. The piece measures7 inches (17 cm) square, 9 inches (22 cm) tall and is in fine condition.
Matsuzaki Ken was born in Tokyo in 1950, and grew up in that dynamic post war era where tradition and modernity were at constant loggerheads...

Birds chatter, perhaps excited by the promise of Spring from the plum blossoms peeking out of a bamboo grove, winters snow melts and trickles through the stones in the stream belwo. A two panel screen, ink and light color on gold by Mizuta Chikuho (1883-1958). An excellent example of this artists Nanga style, the subject and rich wet lines of the bamboo crisp and direct, fading to washes of gray in the shadows. The screen measures 68 x 68 inches (172 x 173 cm) and is in fine condition...

A fine Japanese blue and white porcelain soba choko with decoration of prunus blossoms on branches rising above an active with breaking waves all over a comb pattern on double blue lines above the foot. A fret band decoration appears inside the foliate shaped rim and a flower head within double blue ring adorns the bottom inside...

An attractive Japanese blue and white porcelain soba choko with banana leaf, fence and chidori in mist decoration supported by single blue line all over double blue line. The inside rim with blue and white fret band and the bottom inside with a single flower within double blue line. The glazed foot ring surrounding a wide, unglazed band centering a recessed, glazed center. The white glaze very slightly blue tinged...

A whimsical khaki green-yellow glazed Japanese pottery figural sake pot depicting a tanuki trying to make off with a proportionately larger sake barrel. Early 20th century to turn of that century. Good condition. Height 3 1/2 inches (8.89cm). About 4 1/2 inches (11.4cm) length from tanuki's nose.

A large Shinshoku Ware-tsubo eroded through natural processes during firing with a shattered rim attached to the body at the shoulder. This piece is a virtual textbook on Yohen firing effects. Tamadare, Shinshoku, koge and other effects are supplanted by a large white kutsuki on the front, all under the shadow of the shattered rim fused to the shoulder. It is roughly 10 inches (25 cm) tall, the same diameter enclosed in a fine kiri-wood box...

Superb Kenzan ware decorated with designs of overlapping fans depicting an early winter scene with a house gate by pine trees covered with a rice straw mat as well as Japanese old poems on the interior and with stylized Japanese pampas grass design on the four sides. Edo period. In the interior decoration dated "gen-bun ni-sai" means 1737...

Japanese Noh performance mask of Ko-omote the youthful beauty, made of carved wood with painted features. Size: 8 1/4" high x 5 1/4" wide.

The tanuki rests, energy spent, among fallen bamboo leaves lit by the crescent moon, only those yellow eyes alert and watchful. A beautiful pigment on silk painting signed Seiei enclosed in the original signed wooden box. It is bordered in patterned green silk and features bone rollers. The scroll is 21-1/2 x 76-1/2 inches (55 x 194 cm) and in overall fine condition.

A fox and cubs under the crescent moon and falling leaves by Hotta Shuso (b. 1894) in a style representative of the Taisho era...

Steam coils about the petit young woman at the public bath, a fine Taisho era painting signed Ikuho. The color blends into the silk, leaving a soft edge enhancing the sense she is being viewed through the steam and heat of the bath. Pigment on silk, mounted later in green patterned cloth extended with grey and featuring wooden rollers. As pictures of nudes were forbidden, Ikuho is likely a pen-name, possibly taken from Ikuho Street in Northern Kyoto city where the artist may have resided. Th...

A flamboyant vase by Kawai Toru enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled: Gosu Mentori Ashitsuki Tsubo. Outside the vase is covered in Gosu blue, inside contrasted with iron red. The shape is all Toru, an artist who took the work of Kanjiro and moved beyond, as represented in this large tri-legged tsubo. The vase is 14 inches (35 cm) tall, roughly 12 inches (30 cm) diameter and in perfect condition.
Toru was born in 1941, the son of Kawai Takeichi. He apprenticed jointly unde...

Mayoke Yama Uba, Shinshuu (Nagano Prefecture.) Wood with bark intact, and straw rope. This folk toy depicts a Yama Uba (Mountain Hag) who is also called Yamamba in other parts of Japan. "Mayoke" means "amulet" or "charm," so the item is intended to ward off evil or bad luck, even though Yama Uba are often referred to in stories much like the bogey man is depicted in America. The Yama Uba does have a benevolent side as well, as a Yama Uba was said to be the mother of the legendary mountain boy he...

A superb bronze vase with silver plate design enclosed in the original wooden box and stamped on the base by the artsit. The vessel is 11-1/2 inches (30 cm) tall and in excellent condition