A historic-cultural highlight: we proudly present a more than 1000 year old Yama Chawan with a strong kai-yu glaze. Once in a while you can find a traditional unglazed yama chawan on the antique market, but a Yama Chawan with a strong and vivid kai-yu glaze is very very rare. The Yama-Chawan is an excavated piece, stacked together with a second one for the firing process.

At the beginning of the 9th century, ceramics that use cooking at very high temperatures (about 1240 degrees) an...

This is beautiful Japanese antique Satsuma box with very fine detailing. The white enameling in the flowers and leaves with the gold detail s remind us of work seen on some Seikozan or Shizan pieces. A load of time consuming workmanship went into this piece. It is in outstanding condition with minor gold wear. The box measures 4 3/8 by 3 1/4 inches and is about 2 inches deep. It is not chipped, cracked or repaired. Any discoloration where the lid sets down is missing gold from wear or dirt. We...

Hints of the finest powdered gold gleam on the edges of this ghostly white tea bowl dating from the early Edo period. Iron-like freckles pepper the surface which is subtly clouded with soft color. The base is almost entirely covered in glaze, the glimpses of earth worn dark with age and use. It comes wrapped in a silk bag with an age darkened kiri wood box titled Hagi Chawan and named within Kan-no-yuki annotated by Yabunouchi Chikusojochi (1864-1942) 11th head of the Yabunouchi school of tea...

Another wonderful example of the beauty of Shino-yaki from the early Edo Period: Little deformed cylinder (hazutsu) shaped, in the style of shino ware - the bowl shows finger marks from throwing; foot ring and bottom have been cut with a potters knife. Typical for a Nezumi-Shino shino bowl, the light, unrefined Mino clay has been covered with an iron bearing engobe - with the exception of the bottom area.

A floral decoration on the wall and a circle inside near the brim has been i...

Simple arcs of bent-grass in iron decorate this large bowl by living National Treasure Shimizu Uichi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Tetsu-e Chawan. It is 14.8 cm (6 inches) diameter, 8 cm (3 inches) tall and in excellent condition. It comes with a clipping from a newspaper announcing the naming of Uichi as Living National Treasure in 1985.
Shimizu Uichi (1926-2004) was born in Kyoto the son of a ceramic dealer. Discarding the family business he apprenticed in plastic ...

A sake set in the shape of a cha-usu tea powder grinding stone consisting of 7 pieces, each uniquely decorated with various creatures. The widest is a large sake cup decorated with cranes upon which rests the hai-dai stand, forming the base of the grinding stone. The cover is in the shape of the grinding stone itself, and forms a deep cup decorated inside with a hawk. Inside this are found three concentric cups decorated with crows, a carp and sparrows. The red grinding handle is in fact fil...

An eccentric crusty bowl, very different, by Hashimoto Tomonari enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Raku Yaki Yohen Chawan. Unlike his normal burnished and color ridden surfaces, this bowl is ominous, matte, shot through with pin-hole-textures and rivulets streaming from the rim. It is like something from deep within the universe, an ancient traveler which has been charred and scarred on its way through the atmosphere. Not only that but it is slightly deeper than his normal bowl...

This little guy is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. A tiny mouse rests atop a bulging white radish, bristling blue leaves in full detail attached as if pulled fresh from the ground. Dating from the 19th century (later Edo to early Meiji period), it comes enclosed in an age darkened wooden box titled Daikon Nezumi Futamono (Radish/Mouse Lidded Receptacle). I confess in over 25 years dealing in Japanese art and antiques I have never seen one like it. It is in excellent condition. ...

An eye-catching combination of brown-black colors and old expertly applied gold repairs on a classic Japanese E-Karatsu tea bowl dating from the middle of the Edo-Period (1603-1868).

Like many pottery traditions in Japan, Karatsu takes its name from the city where it originated. As early as the 15th century Korean potters heavily influenced the development of this form—helping to endow it with the earthy, simple, and natural qualities it is so appreciated for.

It comes...

A large and very impressive tomb pottery horseman, Chinese, 1368-1644. This horse and rider comes with the official ThermoLuminescence test from Kotalla lab, dating it to the later Ming Dynasty.*

A rare tomb pottery officer that we recently purchased as part of a small group.

The pottery horseman a high-ranking soldier equiped with a bow case at one side and a quiver at his other side, he is clad in body armor in blue and torquise. He is riding a large white horse.