A fine Japanese ikebana basket hand-woven from bamboo, cane, cedar root, and urushi lacquer. Signed by artist Jiro Yonezawa (b.1956). Jiro Yonezawa attended the Beppu Vocational Arts Training Center in 1981 and spent a year as an apprentice to Masakazu Ono. Later on, he continued his training at the Oita Prefectural Beppu Industrial Art Research Institute. He lived and worked in the United States from 1989 to 2007. In 2008 he returned to Japan and built a new studio in Oita Prefecture.
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We continue to offer you the most important chawans and present you this wonderful Tsutsui-Iga Chawan, dating back to the Momoyama period or even the Muromachi Era.

Cylindrical shape - hanzutsu - built up from clay coils and squeezen into shape, the foot roughly cut on a hand wheel. This technique is usually affiliated with the Muromachi period, but was used in Iga well into the Momoyama period.

The bowl was fired in an anagama (single chamber tunnel kiln), where it was ...

Here is a fine example of a scholarly pursuit of finding the accoutrement for the use of calligraphy. A Japanese bronze tsuteke water dropper, in the form of an old sage or "Sennin" riding on the back of a turtle with its flowing hair-like tails. The turtle is lifting its head so that the angle would allow to pour water from its mouth. The hole is located on the back top of the turtle's shell, allowing for water to flow in. The general use is to submerge the water dropper in a bowl until the air...

Japanese green studio crackle ware vase with applied silver floral motifs. With tomobako. The foot is signed Shofu Katei (1870-1928). Small wear losses.

Shofu Katei was born in 1870 in Seto, Japan. He later moved to Kyoto where has was adopted into the prestigious Shofu family kiln to create Japanese ceramics. In 1908, he set up the Shofu Ceramics Company, Ltd. and was awarded a Green Ribbon in 1915.

Dimensions: 5" W x 7 1/2" H (Tomobako 6 1/2" x 9" H)

Japanese pair of finely cast bronze Nio Buddhist temple guardians. Dressed in traditional robes with auspicious motifs. Each figure stands on a four legged base with cartouche impression underneath.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 3 1/2" x 2 3/4" x 8" H

Pair of Exquisite Chinese soapstone carvings of fu dogs, one male and one female with her baby. The pedestals on which the fu dogs stand show motif panels of horses in various form and pose.

Provenance: From a private estate, originally purchased at Morcom's House of Beautiful Things - Oakland, which closed in the 1920s.

Dates from the 18th/19th century Dimensions: 3" x 2" x 6 3/4" H

Chinese antique porcelain brush container with unusually detailed scenes skillfully incised into each of its four sides. These pictorial reserves show figures in various scholarly pursuits including the study of written texts, scroll painting, playing music and board games, all in garden settings with various trees and vertical rock formations. The body of the container stands on four small corner feet. Glazed a turquoise blue and incised with a Qianlong mark (1735-1796).

Most likel...

Among popular Japanese symbolic animals are frogs. There are many species of frogs in Japan as a result of flooding rice fields in Japanese agriculture. These creatures are often used in poetry and art, and are sometimes carried by travelers to make sure they return home safely from their journeys. The word "frog" in Japanese means "return" which is why the frog is considered a Japanese lucky animal and seen as good fortune in things returning.

Japanese boxwood carving of a female f...

A whimsical Japanese boxwood carving of a toad, with inlaid eyes, crawling atop a functioning cylindrical box carved of bone. The box is hand-carved with flying insects and leaping frogs in a lily pond, the base carved with a floral band. Signed by the artist.

Dimensions: 3 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 6 3/4" H

This appears to be an incarnation of Shindara Daisho of the 12 guardian deities (Juni Shinsho). He has glass eyes and stands on the original Daiza.. The Deity is 21 inches (53.5 cm) tall, total height with stand is 33 inches (83 cm). Later Edo period (18th-19th century). The left hand has been replaced.

Sugimoto Sadamitsu (b. 1935) is one of the most important Shigaraki potters alive today and continues to create master works into his old age. Originally a resident of Tokyo, at the age of 33 he moved to Shigaraki and started creating high-quality tea-ware implements, most notably, fine tea bowls in the style of early Raku masters. A devotee of Zen and a lover of tea, Sugimoto is able to create tea bowls that are not just attractive, pleasant to hold in the hand, and a joy to drink from; but tha...

Japanese low table with keyaki (elm) root burl top and deer antlers for the legs.

Showa Period

Dimensions: 17 1/4" high x 32 1/2" long x 25" wide

Chinese sumi-e calligraphy on hand-made paper by French artist Jacques Decaux (1918-2003) titled "White Bird and Clouds do Fly Together" dated 1984. Decaux was a resident of Taiwan and a member of the Taipei Art Guild. Framed with 100% archival materials and UV Plexiglas in a black lacquer frame. Framed size: 34" high x 57 1/2" wide x 2" deep (painting: 48” x 24”). Purchased in Taiwan in 1987 from the Taipei Art Guild. Jacques Decaux came to art through calligraphy, the route of the tra...

Japanese black lacquered wood stand, with shell inlay courtyard scene of scholars practicing calligraphy on a scroll, bamboo forest and other floral motifs, a butterfly, and a central figure holding an auspicious two character sign. The side panels have openwork carvings and scrolling apron. The feet all connect to a squared stretcher base.

Dimensions: 24" x 15" x 7 3/4" H

Japanese pair of bronze chicken and rooster, finely cast with detailed bodies. The male rooster is posed with head bent down to peck at the ground while the female hen is posed with head faced forward.

Meiji period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 6 1/4" x 2 1/4" x 4 1/2"

Tang authentic pottery plate with a sancai-glazed inner and outer rim. The alternating and flowing green and ochre/brown glazes give beauty to the simple form of the plate. Under magnification, the glaze shows very fine crackle and the edge of the glaze is iridescent.

Period: Tang Dynasty(618 - 907 AD)

Size: Diameter = 23.2 cm (9-1/8 inches)

Condition: Good. No cracks or breaks. Has stacking spur marks from when it was fired. Has a small chip on the rim.

Chinese antique yuhuchunping, pear shaped porcelain vase with a short foot and slender neck flaring at the rim. Decorated with a copper-red underglaze scene of a four-clawed dragon amid swirling clouds. The inside of the rim is decorated with a classic scroll motif. The area just above the foot of the vase is encircle with a band of trefoils.

Possibly Yuan or Ming Dynasty

Dimensions: 13 3/4" high

Antique Chinese pair of porcelain vases with flared foliate rims and pear shaped bodies. Glazed with a turquoise color ground incised with a flower motif, the front and back of each vase is decorated with two highly raised dragons and swirling clouds in a yellow glazed medallion reserve. Each vase has dragon handles and the ground is decorated with applied objects of scholarly pursuits. Bases impressed with a Quinlong mark but these vases are 19th century.

Dimensions: 8 3/4" high