Beautiful antique Japanese Imari pair of gourd shaped dishes with blossoming cherry tree design. Seal in blue on the bottom. Age: Late Meiji Period. Size: 6.5" length x 5" height.

Pair of beautiful Kakiemon porcelain dishes painted with a motif of peaches and pomegranates. Age: 19th century. Size: Height: 1.25" Diameter: 5.75"

A pair of Japanese dishes or plates, Edo, probably 18th century. Over-glaze decoration in iron red, aubergine, black, green and gilt of scholars in a landscape of rocks and banana trees. In the centre Kirin, the mythical animal, in under-glaze blue. The back with auspicious symbols. Diameter "8½/ 21,5 cm (both plates). Condition: both dishes with some wear to the decoration, one with a chip to underside of rim (cf. pictures).

Japanese pair of porcelain Inari kitsune (foxes). Glazed and painted they sit on brightly colored bases, one with a scroll, the other with a ball in it's mouth.
Also called zenko, these good spirit kitsune are specifically associated with the goddess, Inari. Believed to be both messengers and guardians, kitsune served Inari in her role as goddess of agriculture, specifically rice. Part of the folklore surrounding the fox is it’s ability to shape shift into human form...

A pair of covered ceremonial Sake-Tsubo called Heiji decorated with the three auspicious winter plants, Sho-chiku-bai (Pine, bamboo and plum) by Ito Tozan II enclosed in the original wooden box Plum pine and bamboo rise up in a riot of color on the thinly crackled pale glaze covering the surface. Inside the box is dated Showa 11 (1936) 8th month, 9th day. Each is roughly 22 cm (9 inches) tall and in excellent condition, each uniquely stamped on the base with the artist seal...

Two porcelain plates, both superbly painted in the Satsuma style with brocaded borders and landscape scenes of women and children in luxurious clothing, celebrating iris and chrysanthemum respectively. Kutani, late Meiji, c 1900. Signed Kutani Eiraku (?) So. Diameter "7¼ / 18,3 cm. Condition: fine.

A charming pair of Japanese porcelain satsuma vases. The panels on each vase tell a story of ghosts and demons escaping from a woven basket. One vase shows a scene of court performers in a traditional lion dance, used to repel evil spirits. In another panel is a scene of kneeling courtesans with worrisome expression and a shrine maiden attempting to purify the area. The final panel shows a golden box, with a large clawed oni forcing the lid shut to trap the evil spirits within...

A pair of small pottery spill vases, Japan, unmarked, probably Kyoto, 1920’s. Bottle shaped, decorated with hand painted flowers and borders in olive green and black, pink, brown and blue against a cream-coloured background. Height "5/ 12,5 cm. Condition: firing crack to the foot rimof one vase, otherwise fine (cf pictures).

Height: 23.6 cm (9.4 in)
Width: 8.5 cm (3.4 in)

Pair of Japanese Sumida Gawa vases; depicts four polychrome decorated children balancing on ledges; thick frothy glazes cascade down from the rim and down the body; one vase perfect, the other showing a repaired and stable scallop-crack to the rim (hard to see); otherwise, good condition

A pair of wine cups, Japanese, Edo, c 1700. Decorated in iron red, gilt and some green. Diameter "2/ 5 cm, height "1½/ 3,8 cm. Condition: one cup re-glued (cf. pics). Price: $110, including worldwide SH & I

A good pair of Kenjo Imari dishes decorated with a central auspicious “botan-mon” ringed by a wave border with gobenka...

A pair of rice bowls with their accompanying covers cum sauce dishes dating from the late 18th century to the early 19th century decorated entirely in enamels with gilding. Their exterior is decorated with a turquoise green brocade ground intended to simulate a Chinese enamelled scrafitto pattern of the period...

A pair of Namasu or small serving bowls in revived Kakiemon style decorated with a depiction of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove in low moulded relief; here represented by just two of them. The Sages were synominous with a hedonistic lifestyle of drinking and poetry. The foliate rims of the dishes are painted with a fuchi beni, iron brown glaze...

A pair of Arita dishes moulded in so-called suhama form; a stylised interpretation of a wave washed beach often associated with the Isles of the Immortals. Painted in underglaze blue with a group of five auspicious karako, Chinese Boys, bound together with a ribbon or rope; symbols of joy and a wish for offspring. In addition a Chinese style Fan and a Double gourd are painted in iron red and gilt to complete the design...

An interesting pair of Japanese Arita saucer form dishes decorated in a transitional style incorporating elements of the Kakiemon style, notably the asymmetric elements within the reserves to the outer rim of the dish, with Katamono style motifs dating to the late 17th century or early 18th century made for the domestic market. For a more sophisticated version of this type of design in Katamono style dated 1680-1700 see Shibata Volume II no 422...

A similar pair of dishes to EW 3037 but without the additional gilding and iron red decoration. Designs featuring Karako were popular both in China and Japan at this period they were both symbolic of joy and a wish for children, kodakara; the treasure that is children...

Pair of Japanese Meiji period Arita sometsuke porcelain flower vases (hana-ike) with constricted necks and wide mouths, each decorated in underglaze blue on a white ground with a pair of long-tailed birds perched on rockery beneath flowering leafy trees. Butterflies are in flight on the back of the continuous landscape scene. The interior of the cupped mouth holds three sprays of three flowers each and the exterior is bordered with a ruyi head band...

Magical, richly sculpted and beautifully formed Pair of Blue Kutani Porcelain Cats. Meiji Period. 8 inches (20cm) high.