A dark forest rises in a field of white, as if still covered in frost or snow, over which is draped a poem brushed in the exquisite script of the poet-nun Otagaki Rengetsu, Itsu to naki, Tokiwa no sato ha, Hototogisu shinobu hatsune ni, Uzuki wo ya shiru?
With the first cry of the Cuckoo, in this village of Tokiwa
Will the people realize, Spring has arrived?
To the extreme left, the cuckoo flies off the page...

Cotton lining for narrow sash (obi). Most of the fragments are hand-spun cotton cloth, such as plain cotton indigo dyed, itajime mame-shibori (clamp-board dye), katazome (stencil-resist-dye) etc. The second half of the 19th century. 15cm x 4m50cm

An excellent shakudo tsuba inlaid with a "thousand flowers" decoration in gold, silver and sentoku. The technique is particular, the tsuba is first cast in shakudo with all the flowers in relief, then chiseled. Then each flower is covered with a thick sheet of metal, gold, silver or sentoku, this sheet is hammered on the sides of the flowers as one would border a bed sheet. Excellent work , exceedingly difficult more than inlaid...

Very beautiful tsuba in sentoku inlaid with shakudo, gold and silver by Jo-I, first-rank artist from the end of the 18th century. The funny subject represents a man driving demons out of his house by throwing beans on the ground. Excellent work, perfect finish. No restoration or hidden defects. Original patinas. 67x58x4 mm

Antique Japanese circular jingasa with a gradually pointed top. Textured to simulate leather and lacquered a bronze color with red and gold lacquer on the underside. The raised, carved lacquer kikusui (chrysanthemum and water) mon is covered in gold leaf. The Kikusui mon was used by Masashige Kusunoki, a samurai lord who helped overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate...

Takahashi Shotei (Hiroaki)
Cormorant Island, Lake Kawaguchi (Kawaguchiko Unoshima)
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Date: ca 1929.
Hiroaki signature and Shotei seal at lower left.
Publisher: Fusui Gabo. Seal at lower right margin.
Reference: Shotei catalog #O-80.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Toning and light foxing...

Antique Japanese porcelain brush washer and brush rest in the form of Daruma. Derived from BodhiDharma, the monk founder of Zen Buddhism, this is a whimsical and utilitarian object for the scholar's table. After a long meditation, Daruma opens his mouth in a wide yawn, creating the water container portion of the brush washer. He stretches his arms up over his head, his hands together, making a perfect brush rest...

Antique Japanese painted ceramic figure of seated Daruma. Made from a mold and painted, this is an unusually expressive and detailed depiction of Bodhidharma, the monk founder of Zen Buddhism. He has his traditionally intense expression and, in this case, his robes are decorated with flowers. Daruma is a popular good luck symbol for prosperity and perseverance.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 10" high x 7 1/2" wide x 7" deep.

Antique Japanese choba tansu (merchant's storage chest). Made with keyaki (zelkova elm) wood frame and front. Sugi (cryptomeria) wood sides and top. 2 large sliding panels open to a large compartment. Below this are 4 drawers of various sizes. Iron hardware includes warabite shaped drawer pulls. Deep reddish wiped lacquer finish.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 37" high x 35 1/2" wide x 18" deep

The Heron Maiden coquettishly covers her face, the intimation of snow in the vacant background with large occasional flakes falling in the fore on this large work by important 20th century artist Kitano Tsunetomi. Pigment on silk in the original silk border with solid ivory rollers (these will be changed if exporting). It comes in a later collector’s double wood box. The scroll is 46 x 206 cm (18 x 81 inches) and in overall fine, original condition...

Glaze Bidoro sweep upwards toward one red eye on this amazing tsubo by Yukuyoshi Manabe enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Bizen Yohen Tsubo. It is 11 inches (28 cm) diameter, 10-1/4 inches (26 cm) tall and in excellent condition.
Yukuyoshi Manabu was born in Kagatonishi near the heart of Bizen country in 1941. After working in Osaka as a young man, he returned to Bizen to assist the family building supply company...

Kannon (Guanyin) the bodhisattva of compassion, is depicted by two of the most famous painters of the early Showa period on this pair of presentation cloths by Hashimoto Kansetsu and Tomita Keisen. Keisen’s loosely brushed image of a cherubic Kannon sits in the center of an Enso Zen circle...

Japanese limited edition woodblock print by French artist Paul Jacoulet (1902-1960) titled "After the Dance" (Apres La Danse. "Celebes") published June 29, 1940. This image is illustrated on page 59 (plate 67) of “The Prints of Paul Jacoulet” by Richard Miles, 1982. It is described on pages 104-105. The print is pencil-signed and bears the red butterfly seal at the lower left corner of the image. The seal of the carver and printer (Maeda/Fujii) is at the lower right margin corner...

A brush, ink stick letter knife and ink stone are set into a compartment inside this flattened bamboo shape carved from Zitan wood with a poem engraved into the lid signed on the back side Hokkyo Sessai and enclosed in a wooden box. Lifting out the lid by means of the strap, one finds the knife tucked into the handle, the brush, stone, and ink laid out and ready to use. It is 34 cm (13-1/2 inches) long...

A Spectacular Bizen Tsubo dripping with ash glaze by Yukuyoshi Manabu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Bizen Yohen Tsubo (Kiln altered). The rim is covered in built up black ash, which grows more liquid as it enters the burning embers on the side, and is blasted around in rivulets to the back where it has created two shadows of raw earth where another pot was in close proximity. It is 23 cm (9 inches) diameter, 21.5 cm (8-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Yuk...

Antique Japanese tall basket for ikebana flower arranging. Woven of narrow split bamboo. The design is slightly open at the bottom, tightens up in the middle and turns into a bold weave towards the mouth of the basket. Comes with a bamboo insert.

Age: Meiji Period 1868-1912

Dimensions: 16" high x 5 1/2" wide

Kawase Hasui
Moon at Itako
Size: Koban. Approximately 7.75 x 5.25 inches.
Date: ca. 1936.
Hasui produced a thematically similar oban-sized greyscale print of the same title in 1936.
Hasui oval seal at lower left.
Condition: Right margin corners have two original pinholes. There is a much smaller pinhole just at the top right corner within the image that can be seen when the print is held to light.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.