Antique Japanese unusual funa tansu (funa-dansu, ship merchant's safe box). Rare side-by-side configuration with a safe on the right and a compartment with sliding panels on the left. The right side safe box opens with a hinged door heavily decorated with iron work. A ivy leaf in circle mon (Itowa-ni tsuta) in the center with a ring for opening and a fan motif on the lock itself. The interior has 3 drawers in a vertical row, all with square handles and the bottom drawer with a lock. To th...

Antique Japanese mixed metal kabuto (samurai helmet) and iron mempo (samurai face guard) mounted on metal stands.
The kabuto is also listed separately as item #1464528. A rare example Japanese zunari kabuto (samurai helmet) made all of iron with a mixed metal (gold & silver) design of a dragon in swirling clouds. The eyes and whiskers of the dragon are inlaid gold and it's body coils all the way around the hachi (dome). The mabizashi (visor) is edged in bronze and decorated with more wis...

Antique Japanese choba tansu made of solid quartered sawn keyaki (zalkova) wood with burl wood front. The upper portion of the tansu has a large full-width drawer and another full-width drawer on the bottom. The right hand side has three small exterior drawers. The middle section has sliding panels with unusually fine vertical slats. The interior has 3 small drawers in a vertical row. All original lacquer finish and iron hardware including square drawer pulls and elaborately cut out lock pl...

A rare antique Japanese choba biraki tansu (merchant's chest). Made of keyaki (zelkova elm) wood with burled wood on the front. The top portion of the chest has a large full-width drawer. On the right side is vertical row of four small drawers. Two hinged doors open to a shelf and two small interior drawers. And two medium sized drawers line the bottom of the chest. Hand forged iron hardware includes warabite handles, round lock plates and cross bracing on the doors.
Originating in t...

Rare antique Japanese Biraki Choba (merchant chest with hinged doors). The doors open to reveal 9 drawers of various sizes over a single large exterior drawer. Heavy iron hardware includes extensive cross bracing, large hinges, warabite drawer-pulls, a large round lock plate, a lock and 3 keys.
The lock plate has a large Minamoto Clan family crest-likely that of the Seiwa Genji clan. Warriors such as Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate; and Ashikaga Takauji, ...

Antique Japanese album with 12 pages of paintings depicting one large scene of rural life. A woman with a child carries lunch to workers in rice paddies. A man and ox plow a field of grain. Two men chat as they peddle an irrigation apparatus while a child looks on. At a mill, men sift and grind grain. Many other charming vignettes, including a man with a monkey. Painted in mineral pigments and sumi ink on paper with gold leaf and square flecks. Bound in silk with dragons. Signed on the ...

Rare Japanese 7th Century Asuka Period Buddha of Paloma Wood. Beautiful patina and wood grain. The Asuka Period is known for its significant artistic, social, and political transformations, having their origins in the late Kofun period but largely affected by the arrival of Buddhism from China. The introduction of Buddhism marked a change in Japanese society. The Asuka period is also distinguished by the change in the name of the country from Wa to Nihon. 12.75h x 9.5w x 4.25d, 32.5h x 24w ...

Exceptional antique Japanese large kannon biraki tansu (chest with hinged doors). Two stacking sections made all of kiri (paulownia) wood. This chest has unusually bold hardware made of iron with traces of red lacquer. Each of the two large doors on the upper portion is fitted with a large iron kiri mon (specifically Gosan-no-kiri-mon) During the Edo Period, this crest became a well established mon of the Japanese government where previously it was used only by the imperial family. The top s...

A rare carved ivory Netsuke in the form of a Lion or Karashishi, made in Japan in the Edo / Tokugawa period (1600-1868), probably during the 18th Century. Condition: Excellent - age yellowing and cracks - no damages or losses and no restoration. 4cm (1.6inches)long; 3.6cm (1.3inches) high; 2.4cm (0.9inches) deep. Please note - purchasers from outside the European Union will require a CITES Certificate and may also require import documentation within their own country.

A rare INDO-PERSIAN Mughal Khanjar Dagger with a curved and finely damascended PAMOR blade. The scabbard/sheath and handle/blade are intricately and very finely inlaid with Gold and Silver detailing designs. The wonderfully shaped handle is exquisitely hand crafted as a 3-dimensional Lion's head. The dominant dense Pamor pattern of the blade resembles irregular annual rings of a tree trunk. This dagger comes with the original scabbard which is very rare in antique daggers. Very good condition. S...

Double ikat, hand-spun cotton with natural dyes, exhibiting the Wayang keno kneeling figures in threaded in rust brown. Wayang Keno are known as the triad of three Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. This textile is and would have been believed to possess healing properties as the name means "no disease". (Gering = disease, sing = no).
From the Tenganan Pegringsingan village in East Bali. Overall in very good original condition.

Early 20th century

Dimensions...

Depicting a sitting Tirthankara and his attendants. H. 7 cm (2,8 inches) Provenance: private collection Belgium.

Virabhadra, incarnation of Shiva, is often depicted in solid bronze plaques. This one however is remarkably fine, with its delicate openwork. It dates from the 16th century, possibly earlier and was made in West India. It has a warm brown patina and appropriate age wear. There is a very old repair just above the small figure on the left. Height 26 cm (the sculpture), 32 cm including the stand.

Important mask of Mahakala, with a fierce expression, his forehead surmounted by a sort of diadem sustaining a range of tiny skulls . Finely embossed iron, with detailed features, and polychrome pigments to enhance some of the mask parts (eyes, teeth, skulls). A thin textile of red colour is affixed to the inside of the mask, probably to protect the dancer's face. Tibet, early 19th century.Height: 24 cm. The mask is nicely mounted on a custom stand. Very good condition.

Statue of Buddha Sakyamuni, in monk's robes, sitting on a lotus, his hands in didactic posture ("vitarka ludra"). Bronze, with fine patina. China, early Ming dynasty, Hongwu period (1368-1398). Height: 13 cm. Small accident on nose, otherwise very good condition. A very rare piece. NOTE: similar examples of Buddha statues of this period exist, though rare, for example a gilt-bronze Buddha, dat.1398 Hongwu, H 5.8 W 3.8 cm, East Asian Art Museum, Bath [exh.cat. Bath 2000, No. 95], others in privat...

Finely carved mask representing a demon, with expressive features, a protruding forehead bearing a third eye, protruding eyes, beaked nose, open mouth showing teeth. Wood, with remnants of polychrome painting. China, Qing Dynasty, early 19th century or earlier. Height: 23 cm. The mask,is nicely mounted on a custom stand. Old accidents and insect infestations (no danger), otherwise good condition. A very rare piece.

A Very Rare/Important Korean Peninsula Map/MER DE COREE “대한해협”: Dated 1732, Publlished byJacoues NicolasOriginal Copper Engraved Map. It’s in good condition, framed, it measures 31.5 cm x 23 cm print only. ***The sea between Japan and Korea, whose name, either the 'Sea of Korea,' 'East Sea,' or the 'Sea of Japan,' is here identified in favor of Korea (Mer de Coree). Historically, Korea has used the term 'East Sea' since 59 B.C., and many books published before the Japanese anne...

Rare, unusual in this form, Himalayan shamanic mask, with eyes and mouth wide open, expressive features. This mask is strangely similar in aspect to antique Greek theater masks, though there is no known connection between both areas. The mask is made of wood, with a very fine dark brown glossy patina and obvious signs of great age, with traces of the oritginal colouring. Period: 19th century. Height: 29.5 cm. The mask is nicely mounted on a custom stand. Good condition. Collected in situ in 1974...