During Japan's Momoyama period, spanning from the late 16th to the early 17th century, Bizen pottery flourished, producing exquisite pieces such as this “shimokabura” or radish-bulb-shaped sake flask (tokkuri). Crafted from locally sourced Bizen clay, this tokkuri embodies simplicity and understated elegance. Its unassuming form showcases the natural beauty of the clay, enhanced by a delicate ash glaze and distinctive markings achieved through specialized firing techniques...

From a 2006 excavation site in Tokyo known to be occupied by the Owari Tokugawa clan—the most senior contingent of the Tokugawa clan that united Japan under one rule—this lovely Mishima tea bowl has been given a new lease on life with a gorgeous and detailed kintsugi repair with maki-e gold painting...

Hard porcelain dish decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. The scene represents a pavilion in a garden raised on the edge of a lake, several characters animate it. Probably scholars. The designs are artistically stylized in a very Japanese spirit. In the sky the clouds are drawn in a style typical of this period. The edge is glazed in brown. On the reverse appears the mark "Fuku". The quality is excellent, the blue is bright, the designs precise and the firing perfect...

Hard porcelain dish from the Arita kilns. Decor painted in cobalt blue underglaze high-fire. A couple of fallow deer are represented in an autumnal landscape. It would seem that the female is reluctant to fall mating because she is lying down while the male at her side rears up desperately to attract attention. In the background clouds (erotic symbol of the "game of clouds and rain") and a maple tree for autumn. On the right a weeping willow tree symbol of lovers...

Kogo in Japanese lacquer urushi, decorated on maki-e with a dog playing with a fan. The interior is Nashiji. Diameter : Inches. Japan Edo (1603-1868), End of 17th, early 18th century.

A stylized grass motif painted in ferrous pigment across each side and on the inside of this mukozuke serving dish marks it as being more likely produced in Karatsu as opposed to having come out of a Mino kiln. Though very similar styles and techniques were utilized during the late 16th or early 17th C. when this would have been produced; the color, distribution of glaze, and patterning suggest Karatsu...

The size of Shigaraki Vase: 13 3/4" High x 9 5/8" Dia 350 mm x 245 mm
This is very old and rare Japanese Shigaraki Vase from Early Edo (Edo Zenki) 17th Century. Please see the history of Shigaraki and what is Shigaraki at separate paragraph. The condition of Vase, please note there are two Kizu (damage spot) at the top rim area as photo showing.The lower body of line indentation is Hera (spatula) marking.and Kama kizu (kiln flaw). Otherwise great shape for the age from 17th century...

Box in black lacquered wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, golden details. The decor is composed of birds among plants and shrubs. The birds are very active, the one in the center tends to what appears to be a stylized egg in a nest? Probably a meaning. The designs are simple but harmonious and very elegant. The inlay work is empirical but the materials used are solide and they have stood the test of time well indeed the lacquer has not peeled off and the mother-of-pearl is still well maintained...

Wide gold bands mend the broken walls of this unearthed pottery bowl dating from the Kamakura period covered in earthy green glaze from the Seto region from around modern day Nagoya. It is 16.3 (almost 6-1/2 inches) diameter and ready to use. It comes enclosed in a modern collectors wooden box titled Horinote Hirachawan (Excavated Wide Tea Bowl)...

Momoyama period (1568-1600) Ko Karatsu Sake Cup with beautiful greenish glaze...

Hard porcelain box from the Arita kilns decorated in the Imari style with stylized flowers and scrolls in underglaze cobalt blue and iron red. Gilded details. It is rare to find a box from this period in good condition. Japanese work from the Edo period, end of the 17th century. Diameter 15cm. Good condition.

Arita molded hard porcelain dish. This is one of the first productions for export which were made in small quantities around 1650. It was at this time that the ceramicists of Arita began to cover the edges of some of the porcelain with brown enamel, it is not a trivial gesture because the addition of this brown which is an overglaze enamel alone requires additional firing, which represented an additional cost and above all an additional risk of breakage...

17th century Karatsu ware Tea Bowl (Chawan) made in Kihara kiln in Kyushu region

Kihara kiln of Kyushu region was operating during the transition times between the decline of Karatsu tea ceremonial ware and the raise of Shoki-Imari ware (approx...

We have a particular interest in beautiful old Raku tea bowls and spend quite a bit of time searching for exceptional examples to include in our gallery. Here we see a beautiful work that appears to be at least 200 years old and likely much older. On the side can be seen the typical “hasami no ato” (tongs mark) and along the base on both the inside and the outside are impressed lines, formed during the firing process, that I have seen only a few times before and only on very old ...

A startling find! A Horned Demon mask dating from the Nanboku-cho to earlier Muromachi eras (14th to 15th centuries) carved from a single block of wood and enclosed in an ancient kiri-wood box. The visage would have once sported a lower jaw, likely suspended by chord, which is no longer extant. It is 21 x 15 x 9 cm (8-1/4 x 6 x 3-13/4 inches) and is in overall fine condition, exuding a great sense of age.
Oni Masks: Oni are a type of horned demon or ogre in Japanese folklore. They are ...

The large characters in the center of this scroll "南無妙法蓮華経" are pronounced as "Namu Myōho Renge Kyō” in English — a phrase associated with Nichiren Buddhism that is often recited as a mantra, expressing devotion to the Lotus Sutra. This sutra is one of the main tenants of Nichiren and is thought by devotees to be the ultimate law and truth of the universe. Commissioned in 1690, this scroll commemorates the reconstruction of the main hall of Ryuhon-ji Temple, estab...

Porcelain ewer from the Kyushu Arita oven second part of the 17th century. We only know a few identical models, one, with its lid, is kept in the British museum, another is housed in Tokyo at the Idemitsu Museum and happens to be one of the major pieces of the collection, finally a last one, damaged and without a lid, was sold by Sothebys London on June 1, 1981. To our knowledge there are no others. Curiously the porcelain of these ewers is atypical and could be confused with soft porcelain but ...

A quintessential 16th century design in worn gold covers all the dark surfaces of this lacquered wooden box dating from the Momoyama period. Here auspicious cranes and turtles, reported to live a thousand years, laze among pines. About the lid boaters enjoy leisure seas. Ichimonji checkerboard patterns rising diagonally up the sides alternate with garden trees, the ends decorated with wisteria and ivy. The box retains the original inner tray in festive red decorated with garden grasses. It is w...