Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Horse & Rider

This unusual model of a horse & rider was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is made from a creamy-white pottery that has been "cold painted" in various coloured pigments. Note the detail of the overweight rider's clothing and hairstyle, who seems to be slumped in the horse's saddle !

Height 27.5cm. Repairs should, of course, realistically be expected for such pottery figures. The left lower front body of the horse has been ...

Fine & Rare Large Chinese Han Dynasty Glazed Granary Jar with Cover

This rare pottery model of a granary was made some 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is coated in a very attractive amber glaze that varies slightly in colour around the vessel. The unusual shoulder and top presumably represent a two-tier tiled roof. It has its original cover with moulded floral pattern and two purpose-made holes. We know from two other similar examples we have from the same excava...

An antique Chinese chest made of hardwood and featuring 2 side by side drawers with removable 2 doors and separator. Used as a side table, it has spacious storage space behind the doors. Original metal hardware.

Age: 19th Century

Dimensions: 37" Wide by 32 1/2" High by 16 3/4" Deep

An antique Japanese Kyoto Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest) in 2 sections made of Keyaki (Zelkova), Hinoki (Cypress), Kaki (Persimmon) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original bronze hardware with burled Keyaki door panels and drawer fronts. Unique and natural thunder bolt-like grain pattern on the Hinoki wood frame. Side horizontal supports add strength and aesthetic beauty to the tansu. Inverted trapezoid shaped runners at the base of each sliding door.

Its original use was as a kitchen c...

A rare an high quality Japanese Matsumoto Choba Tansu (merchant chest from the Matsumoto region of Japan) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware with full moon style lock plates and Warabite handles. Recessed side handles lift open to accommodate a wood pole through each handle allowing two persons to carry the tansu from place to place. Solid floating wood panels on the side, the top and the sliding doors were used to prevent cracks over ...

An antique Japanese Ko Tansu (personal storage chest) made of Kiri (Paulownia) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware with auspicious Paulownia leaf lock plates and Warabite handles. The original finish was done in a wiped Urushi lacquer technique for both the drawer fronts and the tansu body.

It was used in a wealthy Japanese home to store personal effects, ephemera, writing tools, and other miscellaneous sundries. In a modern home, it would make the perfe...

Ohara Koson
Three small birds on a twig of a red maple
Size: Approximately 17.5 x 12.5 cm. 6.75 x 4.875 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Koson signature and seal at lower left.
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 440).
Reference: AK.18 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Slight wave in paper around original publisher's label at back.
An early and rarely seen design.

Two silk Fukusa wrapping cloths designed and or hand painted by Kamisaka Sekka enclosed in the original signed wooden box dating from the Taisho period. The first is an emboridered wrapping cloth with patterns of flowers and grasses designed by Sekka, 13 x 14 inches (33 x 35.5 cm) in excellent condition complete with red cloth obi. For an identical piece see Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master - Pioneer of Modern Design by Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art 2003 p. 103 fig 23. The second is white s...

This Toba-e E-maki appears to be a 19th century Gi-ga follower of the later 18th to early 19th century Osaka "Manga-ka" Nichosai (Matsudaira Heisaburo). His humorous images of Hell were quite popular, known as Kakuyu painting.　Overall the genre has many names, Gi-ga being all encompassing, Toba-e being descriptive of this particular style, and Kakuyu-fu being the style of Nichosai. It ends with a simple stamp which reads Fish (Gyo/Sakana). It is 11 by 174 inches (28 x 442 cm). Very interes...

Width approximately 17.5 cm. In good condition.

Silver damask iron box, gold details. Japanese work of the Edo period bearing the coat of arms of the Saka-I clan. I once read that this clan was responsible for security in Edo in the 18th century (to be checked). The essential feature of this box is the finesse of the iron that makes it. The blacksmith managed to hammer a wall as thin as paper. Which is a technical feat requiring a exceptionnal mastery of iron. The inlays are thick, which has ensured excellent preservation during centuries of ...

Diameter approximately 21 cm. In good condition.

Diameter approximately 13 cm. There is a soft chip at the rim. There are many chips at the base. In good condition.

Diameter approximately 13 cm. There are very stripes, almost imperceptibly. In good condition.

Diameter approximately 11.8 cm. In good condition.

Height approximately 11.1 cm. There glaze disappears with age. In good condition.

Diameter approximately 12.3 cm. In good condition.

A leather or skin bag with original wonderfully cast brass fittings, both ends of the chain in the form of a singha head, the mythical beast, totem for all Batak People. Shamans "datu" kept magical substances in these bags. Please compare to the "salipi" in the collection of the "Musee du Quai Branly" in Paris. Condition: wear to leather and few small holes. Dimension: leather bag: c. 30 high x 31 wide x 10.8 cm deep, chain: 2 x 44 cm long.