An excellent example of Japanese minimalist aesthetic that transcends its humble origins, this mizusashi, or fresh water pot used in tea ceremony, displays a classic Hagi glaze contrasting nicely with a lacquered wood cover. It separates itself from most pieces of this type by the addition of a pouring spout, which is quite unusual for this type of tea-ware implement.

Hagi-yaki has a tradition stretching back over 400 years and is a high-fired stoneware type of pottery. Hagi is priz...

Red Lacquered Safe with Beautiful Metalwork with auspicious symbols: a tortoise lock (symbol of longevity),peach drawer pulls (a symbol of longevity), the diamond-shaped Seven Treasures symbol, floral scrolls throughout, and the wan (the wheel of life and symbol of universal peace and harmony) is a symbol so ancient it actually predates Buddhism and originally represented the revolving sun. In Buddhism it represents the Heart of the Buddha, happiness, and resignation of spirit. 14.5d x 10w x 11h...

Ko-sometsuke porcelain was produced specifically for the Japanese market during the final decades of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). A small Japanese porcelain plate glazed with 3 images of a person on an island, a row boat and mountain.

Dimensions: diameter 6" X 1.5"

Date: 17th C

Antique Chinese scholar's desk in 3 sections. The top section has 3 drawers in a horizontal row. Each of the bottom sections (that the top rests on) has 2 drawers and a compartment on the bottom enclosed with an open lattice work on all sides. Made of jumu (elm) wood. Hardware is made of brass.

19th century

Dimensions: 34 34" high x 51" wide x 23 3/4" deep

From our family collection of Japanese art from Living National Treasures: perfectly shaped Bizen Chawan from legendary Kaneshige Toyo (1896 - 1967). It was made 55 years ago and is in absolutely great condition.

Born into the Kaneshige family, one of the six kilns of Bizen, as the son of wakigama-style potter Kaneshige Baiyo, Toyo was trained by his father from early childhood and became adept at pottery techniques, with handicrafts and engraved ornaments being his particular speci...

An antique Chinese hardwood low table (Kangzhuo) has an inset with floating top panel and is framed by a bamboo image on the edges. The edge scrolls down the legs. The side panels have prune wood images in low relief.

Date: 1920's

Dimnensions: 39" wide X 13" tall X 17" deep

An antique Japanese three-case Inro. The Inro is reddish brown cherry bark lacquered with a dragonfly hovering over a lotus leave and pond. The other side is a continuation of the lotus leaf motif with small gold leaf flowers. The interior has a continuation of the cherry bark surface. The Inro is signed by 'Zeshin" (Shibata Zeshin 1807-1891) with a cursive monogram. Fitted with an orange oval ojime bead.

Date: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 2.25" tall X 1.5"

A wonderful translucent blue celadon Tobi vase done in the classic style of Longquan Chinese pottery. This piece was made by one of the few great female Japanese potters of the previous century—Suwa Sozan II, daughter of Meiji Imperial Court Artist Sozan I.

Suwa Sozan I (1852—1922) was born in an area of what is known today as Ishikawa prefecture. After a short stint in the military he took up pottery design and painting under Touda Tokuji in 1873. From this point for...

Antique Chinese porcelain snuff bottle with a yellow crackle glaze. Elongated void body with small glazed foot and bottom. Brown coppery glazed rim. Horn lid.

Shakris Collection Age: 19th century

Dimensions: 3 3/4" total height

An antique Chinese clear rock crystal snuff bottle with green peking glass lid.

Provenance: Howard Capland Collection

Date: early 19th C

Dimensions:3" tall X 2" wide

An antique Vietnamese glazed bowl with brush strokes on sides and in the interior. Provenance: Prominent Private Collection from San Diego, CA

Date: Tran Dynasty (13th-14thC)

Dimensions: 5.75" in diameter X 2.75" tall

A blue ceramic Vietnamese cosmetic box w/lid. The lid has a raised image of a tiger. Found in a ship wreck from the Hoi An Hoard ship with a numbered label. Provenance: Prominent Private Collection from San Diego, CA

Date:12-13th C

Dimensions: 2" tall X 2.75" in diameter

Sophisticated Hagi Chawan by Living National Treasure Miwa Kyusetsu X (Kyuwa) (1885-1981) with warekodai made 70 years ago.

Many of Miwa's chawan have a split cross footring called a warekodai that was favored by busho chajin (warrior tea men); it traces its origins to Korean chawan. This chawan has a rare warekodai with only one split.

Miwa Kyusetsu X was a member of the group around Rosansin an Arakawa, which revived the momoyama ceramic. He is a legendary figure, and r...

This exceptionally well-formed tea bowl displays highlights of flaxen and scarlet visible through a classic black glaze. Raku tea bowls such as this are made by hand, without the use of a potter's wheel. In the process of shaping the bowls, potters handle the tea bowls in much the same manner that users will hold them as they drink from them. In this manner, a connection is formed between the creator of the tea bowl and the participants in the tea ceremony. For this and other reasons, Raku bowls...

A signature work decorated with finger twirls of poured glaze over the pale-colored sides of this bottle form by Hamada Shoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Monda Kakubin dating from the 1960s. It is 4 inches (10 cm) square, 9-1/2 inches (24 cm) tall and in excellent condition. What appear in the photographs to be at first glance three chips in the edge are in fact crawling in the glaze, see the last close-up for details.
Hamada Shoji (1894-1978) was born in Tokyo, and ...

Chinese Tang dynasty - Five dynasties YUEYAO small jar with two lugs/ears. Jar has single hairline, free from any repairs. 8 cm high, 7 cm diameter.

A breathtaking work in perfect green porcelain glaze by Shimada Fumio enclosed in the original sined wooden box titled Seihakuji Budo-cho mon Tsubo (Celadon Tsubo Carved with Grape Designs). It was exhibited at the Shimada Fumio Sakuto 40 Shunen ten and Gendai Kogei Fujino Ten (2014). The vase is 20 cm (8 inches) diameter, the same height, and is in excellent condition.
Shimada Fumio is undoubtedly one of the greatest artists working in porcelain in Japan today. He was born in Tochigi p...

A real piece of art: Shino-Oribe Tea Bowl from the early Edo Period (around 1620, early 17th century). It is a shoe shaped Kutsugata Chawan covered with a whitish Shino-Oribe glaze over an iron oxide engobe in two quarter sections, where a triangle has been scratched into the dark engobe. The other two opposite quarters show a decoration of two squares in the style of mimasu - three squares.

The roughly cut foot ring and its surrounding show the typical little refined Mino clay. Th...