Antique Japanese tsuba (hand guard for samurai katana) decorated with a monkey peeking though the bamboo rails of a cage or gate. Often occurring in Japanese folk tales, the monkey generally symbolizes a trickster. Since tsuba were often a warrior's source of personal expression, it is likely this monkey held specific significance to the blade's owner.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 3" high x 2 7/8" wide x 1/8" thick (1/4" thick including monkey).

Antique Japanese tanegashima short rifle (gun) with working original matchlock mechanism. Not original barrel, this one has been replaced with a shorter forged barrel onto the rifle wood stock.
Made of hardwood with lacquer finish. Silver inlay on the iron barrel includes an rare arrow motif. Elaborate brass work includes little florets and frolicking fu-dogs. Comes with custom iron stand to aid in display...

Antique Japanese meadate in the form of a hornet, hand forged iron with gilt brass plate. Mounted on a stand.

Edo Period (1603-1868)

Dimensions: Total including stand 7" high (meadate only 4 1/2" high)

Antique pair of Japanese menuki. These small but detailed elements of a traditional samurai sword were originally made to hide the pins (mekugi) that hold the back end of the blade (tang) to the hilt (tsuka). Made in pairs, they were positioned on either side of the handle. These menuki are especially fine and depict two men, likely sages by their long hair. Probably they are the friends, Kanzan (the Zen poet) and Jittoku (a servant at a monastery)...

Pair of Japanese antique abumi (horse riding stirrups), made of iron with silver inlay all over in beautiful designs of vines and leaves, the bottom of each stirrup is decorated with a bamboo motif, the foot areas are lacquered black, each abumi is inlaid with writing: Kaga Ishikawa Prefecture, Mori Hei Saku (artist's name and "signed by") lived in Komaki. Edo Period (18th century). Size of each: 9 1/2" high x 11 1/2" long x 5" wide.

Antique Japanese pair of abumi (samurai stirrups for horse riding). Made of iron and lacquered black with red lacquer foot. Each abumi is decorated with designs of kiri blossoms in gold lacquer. The buckle of each stirrup has an intricate pierced design and mon in gold lacquer. (Mounted on matching stands made of metal with wooden bases.)

Edo Period (early 1800's)

Dimensions: 16 3/4" high (10 3/4" high without stand) x 12" long x 5 1/2" wide.

An unusual shorter length Japanese tanegashima (gun rifle) with working original matchlock mechanism. Made of hardwood with original dark lacquer finish. Iron barrel has a silver inlaid sasa mon (bamboo leaf crest). Elaborate brass work includes many chrysanthemum florets.

Comes with custom iron stand to aid in display. (In the group picture, this tanagashima is the second from the front.)

Age: Edo Period (c...

Antique Japanese full length tanegashima rifle with working original matchlock mechanism. Made of burl keyaki hardwood with original lacquer finish. The hand forged iron barrel is inlaid with a 3/4 length silver dragon swirling through clouds. Original decorative brass fittings with auspicious animals such as fu-dogs, birds and flowers. Unusual silver inlaid stripes on the mouth of the barrel.

Comes with custom iron stand to aid in display...

Antique Japanese jingasa (samurai war hat). Carved of wood and lacquered black with many raised plates and upturned rim. This shape of bajo-jingasa was developed to be worn by warriors on horseback. The underside is lacquered black and his metal eyelets intended for cord. Age Edo Age - 19th century

Dimensions: 6 1/2" high x 16 1/4" long x 12 3/8" wide

Japanese antique samurai kura horse saddle. Carved of wood and lacquered black with shell inlay covering the maewa (front arched plate) as well as the shizuwa (rear arched plate). The maewa and shizuwa are connected by two igi (contoured side bands). The igi rest on either side of the horse's spine and serve as the under frame for the leather seat (basen or kura tsubo) and are slotted for stirrup straps (chikara-gawa or gekiso) to pass through. Obscured signature on the bottom...

Antique Japanese jingasa (samurai hat) with Ōgi (folding fan) crest. Covered in black lacquer with the mon in gold. The underside is lacquered red and still has remnants of the original silk padding. With a custom metal stand.
The samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their retainers and footsoldiers (ashigaru), used several types of jingasa made from iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather...

Antique Japanese lacquer jingasa, samurai's hat. Round rim with a gradually pointed top. Lacquered black and decorated with a design of 3 flying cranes in swirling clouds and with a Narabi-ya (double arrows) mon in raised gold lacquer.

The samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their retainers and footsoldiers (ashigaru), used several types of jingasa made from iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather...

Antique Japanese circular jingasa with a gradually pointed top. Textured to simulate leather and lacquered a bronze color with red and gold lacquer on the underside. The raised, carved lacquer kikusui (chrysanthemum and water) mon is covered in gold leaf. The Kikusui mon was used by Masashige Kusunoki, a samurai lord who helped overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate...

Antique Japanese black lacquer jingasa (samurai helmet), gold lacquer Maeda mon (crest), the edges are also lacquered gold, red lacquer on the underside, metal chrysanthemum form finial on top, Meiji Period. Size: 14" long

Antique Japanese 8 ken (plates) jingasa hat for a ashigaru foot soldier. Made of iron and finished with lacquer. The wear on this helm is consistent with it likely having been worn in battle...

An antique Japanese Jingasa with gradual domed top with black Urushi and a raised lacquer design of a flying dragon surrounding the top. Underside is red Urushi. Family crest in gold on top and bottom of helmet. Bronze ring Tama Buchi. Worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their retainers and foot soldiers.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: Jingasa only 17" diameter by 3 1/2" high. Jingasa on stand 21" high by 17" wide by 7" deep.

Antique Japanese horagai, conch shell trumpet made from the shell of Charonai tritonis and outfitted with a wooden mouthpiece. Horagai were used by samurai during war times to communicate location to each other over mountain terrain. They are also closely associated with Yamabushi, warrior monks of the Shugendo tradition. The Japanese conch shell horagai is special in that it can produce a range of 3 to 5 different notes. Today, horagai are still used by monks during ceremonies such as the...

Antique Japanese hikeshi banten, fireman's coat. Made of layers of cotton fabric and stitched in the sashiko quilting technique. Fires were common in Japanese urban areas due to the dense population as well as construction material (primarily wood and paper). Fire brigades were made up of samurai class (buke hikeshi) as well as common class (machi hikeshi). Their primary goal in containing a fire was to tear down the surrounding buildings so the fire had no more fuel. These special coats were w...