Cloisonné enamel charger or large dish with flowers and a flying bird against a mustard yellow ground, the back with a swirl pattern. Late Meiji or early Taisho, c 1900. Diameter "12/ 30.3 cm, height "1 ½ / 3.7 cm. Condition: a damage to the backside enameling (c f last photo). Interestingly, it shows the kind of marker used to indicate the design where the cloisonné metal straps were to be soldered onto the base. Price: $180, including worldwide registered / trackable shipping

Chawan, tea bowl to be used in the tea ceremony, of distorted oval shape (kutsu or clog, or shoe-shape). Thick cream-colored stoneware that turned red during firing in the unglazed area, covered with a translucent greenish ash glaze that collected in the bottom and around the rim and is very thin around the sides. The sides are ‘rough’, giving a look into the clay.

Japan, Seto region, very early Edo period.

H 3 x W 5.5 in...

浅沓と米俵 / CLOGS AND RICE BAGS

Wood carving asagutsu (shallow clogs) and rice bags that belong to the statue of Daikokuten (Syncretic Japanese deity of fortune and wealth). What an innovative remains and existences. Showa period, early 20th century, Japan. approx...

A menagerie of 12 comic creatures grin back at us as we pour another cup of sake from this Tokkuri decorated by world renowned woodblock artist and painter Clifton Karhu enclosed in the original wooden box also decorated on all facets with the same humorous creatures as well as a self portrait on the lid captioned EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY. It is 17.5 cm (7 inches) tall and in excellent condition...

Clifton Karhu (1927-2007)
Tominaga-cho, Gion
Date: 1993.
Edition: 55/75.
Size: 24.25 x 17.75 inches.
Signed, titled, numbered, and dated in pencil by the artist in lower margin.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight toning in margin due to former matte. Left and right outside margins each have a dot of foxing. Print has never been adhered to a backing.

Clifton Karhu (1927-2007)
Meditation (The Japanese characters read "Zazen")
Size: 16.5 x 14.0 inches.
Date: 1970.
Edition: 27/100.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good. Edges of paper are toned.
- A rare and delightful image.

Japanese Clay Figure of a Sino-Japanese War General on a White Horse. This would have been displayed in a Boys' Day festival in the late Meiji Period. Wonderfully painted with fine details. Height: 7.5 inches, 19 cm.

A quintessential work by Sodeisha founding member Yamada Hikaru enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shirogesho Tetsu-e Tsubo (Tsubo with Iron Decoration on White Glaze). It is 214 cm (8 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Yamada Hikaru (1924-2001), was born into the family of layman potter and priest Yamada Tetsu, and raised in Gifu after the family home was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake...

An absolute classic natural ash glazed sake bottle by the reclusive potter Oasako Mikio enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Hai Yu Tokkuri (ash glazed flask). Much of the dark surface is raw clay, with coals charring the front and tremulous tears of liquified ash dripping down both inside and out. It is 12 cm tall and in excellent condition...

Dashes of black like traces of some Zen ink painting decorate the surface of this set of five pates by Kondo Yutaka enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Sumi-nagashi Chu-zara. Each is 23.5 cm (9-1/4 inches) diameter, and all are in excellent condition, dating circa 1978.
Kondo Yutaka (1932-1983) was born into a traditional pottery family in Kyoto...

A signature work by Kiyomizu Rokubei VI enclosed in the original signed wooden box. Golden light shines through the silhouette of iron colored trees on the tapering cylinder. It was a design technique developed by this generation. The original rosewood stand is included. The vase is 31 cm (12 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
The Kiyomizu family potters managed one of the most productive workshops in Kyoto’s Gojozaka district throughout the second half of the Edo period...

Kishimoto Kennin at his best, deep in the clay of Iga, a slightly misshapen vase covered in a splash of ash glaze and dark charring, one side flattened down like a beret, a single drip of crystalline jade clinging to the rim. The vase is 29 cm (just under 12 inches) tall and in perfect condition, enclosed in the original signed wooden box.
Kishimoto Kennin has been working with clay since the 1950s, devouring styles along the way...

A fabulous ceramic casket by Kawai Kanjiro covered in his famous Gosu blue with abstract colorful patterns enclosed in a wooden box signed by the head of the Kawai Kanjiro Kinenkan Museum. It is 25 x 14 x 14 cm (10 x 5-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Kawai Kanjiro was a true artist by nature, and together with Hamada Shoji, set a pattern of study for modern potters...

A voluminous vessel glowing with hi-iro flame color by Furutani Hirofumi (Churoku II) enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shigaraki Hi-iro Tsubo. This piece comes from deep within the kiln, far from the ash deposits in front, and the pale clay is altered by the heat and touch of the inferno as it rushes through the vortex, the path and shadows of other pieces leaving various patterns on the surface...

A quintessential Iga vase dating from the Edo period, the rough clay covered in thick ash glaze. It is viciously charred, testament to the tempest in the kiln, with molten ash flowing freely over the surface. This is a perfect complement to a Japanese chashitsu tea room or traditional flower display. It is 24.5 cm (9-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition. In a Japanese tea ceremony room, historically vases were made to match the ambiance of the humble setting...

The Fundo stamp of Living National Treasure Kaneshige Toyo is impressed into the base of this classical Bizen Mizusashi by Toyo named Fuku no kami (God of Fortune) by 12th Grandmaster of the Omotesenke School of Tea Keio Sosa (Seisai), enclosed in a wooden box titled Bizen Mimitsuki Mizusashi, Na: Fuku no Kami and signed by Seisai., It retains the original ceramic lid as well as a lacquered lid also bearing an alternate signature of Seisai...

A quintessential Mimitsuki Mizusashi with loop handles by die hard Takahashi Rakusai enclosed in the original signed wooden box. This is a superb example of the form by master of the tradition. It retains both the original pottery lid and custom made black lacquered wood Kae-buta lid. The vessel is 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) diameter, 17.5 cm (7 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Takahashi Takusai IV was born the eldest son of the 3rd generation Rakusai in Shigaraki in 1925, given name ...

A fabulous Shigaraki Tsubo of austere form blasted with natural ash glaze by Otani Shiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box. A classic work it is 20 cm (8 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Otani Shiro was born in Shigaraki in 1936 and graduated the Prefectural School in the ceramics department in 1956, which he followed up with 4 years studying decorating techniques under Morioka Yutaro. He then moved to Kyoto where he studied at the Municipal Ceramics Research Facilit...