A striking late 19th century Shigaraki Chawan with one of the most beautiful Kintsugi repairs we have ever seen. A mixture of lacquer and gold powder showing a traditional Karakusa pattern - a real unicum.

This aesthetically pleasing highest quality Kintsugi gold repair was made and in 1974 by Arakawa Kentaro, former master craftsman of the Tokyo National Museum.

The 'kara' of Karakusa means 'China', while 'kusa' means 'plant'. The Karakusa pattern came to Japan from China...

An antique Japanese Kusuri Tansu (herbal medicine chest) made of Kaki (Persimmon) and Kiri (Paulownia) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware with each pull ring decorated with a Chrysanthemum back plate. Some of the drawers still retain label remnants of the contents that it held. Constructed using hardened wooden nails and straight dovetail joinery. Consisting of 35 drawers.

A radical image by the outlandish Doi Goga featuring a black devil and its child. The child reaches up to the monster, while the monster seems to be giving him a raspberry, his toungue flailing in the air. Ink on paper, it has been completely restored in beige cloth border with bone rollers reflecting the original mounting. The scroll is 42 x 181 cm (16-1/2 x 71-1/4 inches) ad is in excellent condition. Doi Goga (1818-1880) was a Confucian scholar of the late Edo to Meiji periods. He was b...

Joli petit okimono en bois sculpté en forme d'enfant jouant du tambour. Sa robe est finement incrustée de motif de fleurs stylisées de différent matériaux, argent, os teinté, corne ou ébène et nacre. Dessous 2 caractères gravés sur une tablette de nacre indiquent le nom de l'artiste qui est certainement célèbre au regard de la qualité de l'oeuvre. Il manque quelques perles et les baguettes de tambours, mais celà ne nuit point à l'équilibre de la sculpture. Toutefois nous pouvons ...

Rare water-pot,dropper? (too little for wine and not covered for tea) for schollar in Sancai enameled porcelain, Kangxi period. Fruit-shaped, appears to be a pomegranate, with stem leaves and flower. The flower is admirably made with thin petals like paper which is daring, miraculously none is missing, however, looking with a magnifying glass we can see on the edges of small gaps that we can guess or imagine on photo but it is not obvious because the petals are naturally jagged. Honestly, it's r...

Censer in form of Tripod vase (Ding shape) in Chinese porcelain. Underglaze decoration of dragons with 5 claws in cobalt blue and copper red. The dragons are chasing the sacred pearl. Below the mark of Wanly. It is probably an apocryphal mark. The object may simply be from the Kanghi period, the worm nibbles around the edge seem to confirm this period? Some experts believe that red copper was not used in the late Ming, but some examples of imperial Chiaching and Wanly porcelain in copper red exi...

Here we see a Chinese style celadon floral bowl by one of the 5 Imperial Court Artists of Meiji. The potter, Sozan, spent his life perfecting techniques for celadon production first used in the Southern Song Dynasty as evidenced here with his powdery blue “kinuta” glaze. The low-relief floral design really brings an elegance to this work and the celadon glaze seems to have an inner radiance all its own.

Sozan (the first) was born in an area of what is known today as ...

Huge cotton cloth with dynamic and vivid Shishi (lion), peonies, waves and tachibana (citrus) with tsutsugaki (glue resist dye). The tsutsugaki technique is excellent and lines are very smooth and powerful by a prominent craftsperson. Judging from the shape and size, it might have been used for "Shishimai" (lion dance) at the festival, held in Fukui, Toyama or Ishikawa Prefecture. In excellent condition. Meiji period (1969～1912)

Gold nuggets gleam on the deep lavender and black surface of this natural-formation by Inayoshi Osamu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kurinuki Kinsai Kaki. Kinsai is literally gold color, and here the artist has embedded gold into the surface, allowing it to expand and bubble out in the heat of the firing process. The effect of this on the dark matt surface is both striking and original. Kurinuki is the technique of digging a form out of a block of clay. It is 18-1/2 inches...

Important dish, very decorative, in porcelain enamelled in polychrome, underglaze blue and gold, Imari, decorated with chrysanthemums and peonies in reserves of different shapes. Period: Meiji (1868-1912). Diameter: 63cm.

Grapes in gold lined ocher decorate this flaring cylinder the color of a cloudy sky by Miyake Yoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Nuki-e Kinsai Budomon Tsutsu. It is 30 cm (12 inches) tall, 16.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) diameter and in excellent condition.
Miyake Yoji was born in Shimane in 1950, He studied from 1974 under Ito Kosho, establishing himself as an independent artist three years later in Mashiko. In 1979 his work was accepted into the Dento Kogei Shinsaku Ten (New...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a skeleton. Realistically rendered for use in a doctor's office. Great detail and shading. Frontal view with a top view of the foot. Painted in sumi-e ink and light colors on paper. Signature seal.

Dimensions: Total size: 77 1/2" high x 27 3/4" wide (30 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 55" high x 23 1/4" wide.

Hard to find nowadays: fairly shoe shaped (kutsugata) tea bowl, made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body was covered with a potter's knife in its shoulder and around the foot ring.

The brim of this bowl covered with a green copper oxide glaze and the lower part was left unglazed and decorated in iron oxide with buddhist wheel of law on two opposite sides over which finally a transparent ash glaze was applied. The wheels were additionally highlighted with...

Tall Chinese Kangxi Blue & White Porcelain Vase from Shipwreck (30cm)

This very attractive porcelain vase was made during the Kangxi reign (1662 - 1722) of the Qing Dynasty. The surface is profusely decorated in underglaze blue of good colour, the decoration comprising four large panels containing various trees, blossoms and pierced rockwork, as well as smaller panels containing peony and chrysanthemum blossoms, together with geometric patterns. This vase is complete with its cover.

This...

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.

Excellent condition

Comes with a red silk po...

Very sophisticated and fine mid Edo Period Hirado Mizusashi for the Japanese Tea Ceremony with its original lid.

Hirado wares—alternately known as Mikawachi wares in some contexts—are known throughout Japan and also abroad for their high quality and fine craftsmanship and date back at least as far as the mid-18th century when they were produced exclusively for powerful lords and their families. During this time Hirado ware was popular for the water jars used to hold the cold wa...

Early 17th century (Edo Period 1603-1868) distorted shoe shaped (tsutsugata) white Shino Chawan with a rounded brim, made of light, coarse, unrefined Mino clay. The expertly thrown body was trimmed with a potter's knife in the lower part of the body and around the foot ring.

This bowl was covered with a white Shino type of ash glaze. Under the transparent glaze two young pine tries were painted in iron oxide.

The young pine tree decoration is a popular attribute of New Y...

Lot of 7 medallions in gilded copper, cut, cloisonné and enamelled with Chinese characters and lotus flowers on a background cutted of Swastika. It seems that the pattern is related to wishes for great longevity. Very rare if not unique set. What was it used for? It would seem that the lightness of the medallions as well as their beautiful quality make them suitable for wearing as jewelry, sewn on a belt, a piece of clothing or a hat trick? Diameter of the 3 large medallions 80mm and 55mm fo...