A very rare portrait of the highest ranking official in the Emperor's court. This is based on the rank badge of the crane and the red hat. The painting is very intricate with a lot of gold work. The sleeves are painted with the heads of the Imperial Dragon and in the center there is a painting of the elusive flying pearl. The tips of the armrests and carved with the Linzhi mushroom...

19th century Chinese carved green fluorite scholar's table libation cup/brush washer with nice purple highlights on the superbly done top rim. It is carved in high relief with birds, flowers and rockery with the bottom part having a twisting stem type riser. In excellent condition, it measures without stand 3" high x 3" long (at the very top rim) x 2.25" wide as the top rim flairs out more across the length.

Black and white print of Nagasena Ahrat. In the 9th century this portrait of the luohan was painted as well as those of 15 other Ahrats by the painter Guanxiu who was a Buddhist monk. 900 years later, in 1757, Emperor Kienlong during a visit to Shengyin Monastery in the former province of Hang admired the 16 portraits. In order to perpetuate them, he ordered the carving of 16 sculpted stones to produce numerous prints of these works of art, of which here is one of the rare examples...

Bamboo pot carved with several characters from Chinese mythology evolving in a raised garden. One can easily recognize Shoulao, god of longevity, accompanied by his deer and holding the peach of immortality in his right hand and his stick in the left. The deer holds in its mouth a Lingzhi mushroom of immortality. The work is important, the sculptures do not have the perfect but cutesy aesthetic of the 18th century and would suggest that this pot is a late popular clumsy creation...

Chinese Scholar’s two-tier solid rosewood stand with carved boxwood edges. Produced in the 1950s, this is actually a copy of a 17th - early 18th century style that was made of zitan and edged in boxwood. A strong stand that will hold your heaviest object, the pieces were machine made with rough carvings, hand assembled (pegged and glued), and then hand finished and polished. In excellent condition, the stand measures 12” long x 7.25" wide x 4” high.

Antique Chinese bronze figure of a seated immortal. He sits with robes flowing out around him. He holds a ruyi scepter in his right hand and another round object in his left. Kindly expression and elongated earlobes.

17th Century: Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644)

Dimensions: 3" high

Antique Chinese bronze incense holder for joss (stick or agarabathi) incense in the form of Laozi riding a water buffalo. Laozi is widely celebrated as the founder of Taoism and the author of Tao Te Ching, a significant treaty on Chinese cosmology. According to legend, Laozi left China for the west riding a water buffalo. In this small bronze incense holder, Laozi sits on the back of the animal, his robes flowing around him...

Very rare dropper in lost wax cast bronze representing an adorable little owl. The cast and chisel are perfect and the scraper finish is very neat. Slight cast iron defect below. The object plunges into the water and fills up through the beak and ears. The output of the drops is perfect. One by one as needed. Well thought out object is perfectly executed. Work from the 18th century or before, there is a good antique and beautifful patina...

A mother-of-pearl and silver cup. The natural shell, without human intervention, is discreetly mounted in brush washer. The shell rests on three simple spherical silver feet which are held by three silver butterflies with outstretched wings. When the cup is filled with water, the butterflies stand at the edge of the liquid, like at the edge of a pond, in reality...

Snowy landscape, in the foreground pine branches (?) bending under the snow, in the distance a mountain, black crows contrast with the ambient whiteness and grayness of this freezing winter. Watercolor on extremely fine silk canvas. Beautiful composition good mastery of the brush, unfortunately no signature. It's hard to say if it's a Japanese or Chinese creation, but usually on Japanese landscapes when a mountain is represented it's almost always Mount Fuji, which is not the case here...

Chinese hardwood ruyi scepter carved in the shape of a stylized lingzhi. Decorated with writing and designs of fruit, bats, fish, lingzhi mushrooms and other symbols of good fortune. Ruyi scepters were used by the noble class to hold or display as a symbols of power and good fortune and they were used by Buddhist monks in teaching...

DESCRIPTION: A pair of rare Qing Dynasty (early 1800's) ancestor portraits of miniature size, framed in an archival, off-white silk matt. Both figures are seated on horseshoe back chairs with tiger skin drapes, the husband in a bright blue robe with black silk overcoat, his rank badge displayed on his chest; the wife in a bright orange-red coat, teal colored skirt, and elaborate headdress. Both are well painted with detailed, lifelike features...

Chinese calligraphy brush pot, all hand-carved from bamboo. The low relief carvings depict a group of scholars riding in a boat through a rocky landscape scene with hanging pine branches. The rendering is similar to ink painting. Has subtle silver inlay in the river.

19th century Dimensions: 5 1/2" x 7" H

A Chinese bronze censer with stylized fish handles...

Qi-Liang was originally a member of a elite painter's group " Fifth Moon Group"
68cm x 61cm in frame.

A Ming Inkstone was in simple rectangular form and was in decent look.
In characteristic Ming scholar mood, the inkstone was made from the unique Pudding stone.

Date: Ming Dynasty, 15th Century.

Dimension : 26cm x 16cm x 5cm

Length: 6.3 cm (2.5 in)
Height: 3.5 cm (1.4 in)
Depth: 3.4 cm (1.3 in)
Weight: 150 gm

Fine Ming Period bronze scroll weight of a mythical lion; excellent patina and casting with some wear points exposing the bronze; good condition

DESCRIPTION: A handsome Chinese scholar's brush pot crafted from burl root and hollowed well to hold a number of brushes (pictured here with three quality brushes we also have listed). Its undulating form, texture and patina are striking to view, and its natural shape would have had great appeal to the Chinese scholar in his studio. Dating from the Qing dynasty, mid 19th C., this pot is in very good condition with a few inconsequential rim cracks; very solid and sturdy. DIMENSIONS: 7 3/4" high...