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)...

Japanese Kanzashi hairpin, maki-e on hand carved wood. A dadaiko (large drum used for court music) and maku (outdoor fence made out of cloth) under the maple trees. They are pictorial subjects from chapter 7 of The Tale Of Genji, Momiji no Ga (An Autumn Excursion)...

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

Japanese antique black and gold lacquered kanban (shop sign). Decorated with unusually beautiful calligraphy advertising cosmetics with words like 艶 tsuya "luster/gloss/sheen" and 白粉 Oshiroi which literally means "white powder"; the powder foundation worn by kabuki actors and especially by geisha and their maiko apprentices...

Japanese hair comb and Kogai hair pin in a Wakasa-nuri Lacquer finish on wood, circa early 1900s. Wakasa-nuri lacquer is a unique urushi lacquer technique that uses stones (coarse to soft) to scrape and reveal different layers of lacquer coatings which are painted on wood using many different colors. The dimensions of the comb are 1 1/4 inches and 3 1/4 inches, pin 5 3/4 inches long.

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...

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

Antique Japanese large lacquer fumibako (letter box for paper), beautiful design of silver hydrangeas flowers with gold lacquer leaves on top and sides, black lacquer with nishiji (gold fleck) ground, interior with the same black lacquer and nishiji ground, underside of lid with dramatic gold makie lacquer scene of young pine sprouts and grass, Meiji Period. Size: 15 3/4" long x 12 3/4" wide x 5 1/2" deep.

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 lacquer Tebako, cosmetic box. Made of lacquered wood and decorated all over with scenes of flying geese in gold lacquer with raised details on a black lacquer ground, Silver lacquer bull rushes with golden leaves bend in the wind. The interior is lined with very old silk brocade. Meiji Period (1868-1912) . Size : 9 1/4" high x 11 1/2" long x 9" wide.

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...

A stunning large antique Japanese lacquer bunko (document box). Decorated all over with raised blossoming white rhododendron. Charming details of the leaves show where they have been nibbled appreciatively. Very unusual and beautiful use of takamaki-e lacquer technique. Signed on the underside of the lid by 源十郎 Genjūrо̄...

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 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 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 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 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...

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