Antique Japanese ema of a horse. This ema is a dedication plaque that was made as an offering in a shinto shrine. Horses are considered vehicles of the gods, so this ema was made at the highest level in order to convey an important wish as speedily as possible. Painted in mineral colors on keyaki (elm) wood.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 29 3/8" high x 43 1/4" wide x 2" deep

Antique Japanese wooden standing screen painted on both sides. One side is painted with a Kabuki actor portraying a samurai sharpening the points of an arrow on a whetstone. The image is inspired by an Edo Period woodblock print from the Kabuki drama Yanone Koro by the artist Kiyomitsu Torii II (1787-1868) entitled "Samurai Sharpening an Arrow" c. 1820. In this image, the artist has gone further to include a background with a rack of arrows behind of the main figure. It's seal reads 秋 Aki... Click for details

Antique Japanese large wooden single panel screen painted with a scene of flying cranes and pine trees. Painted in mineral colors on kiri (paulownia) wood and framed in hardwood with bamboo details on the lower portion.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 62 1/2" high x 74" wide x 17 3/4" deep

Antique Japanese fushima (sliding door panel). Painting with a crane and pine tree on a background of gold mist. Painted in mineral colors on a sugi (cryptomeria) wood panel and framed with black lacquered hinoki (Japanese cypress) wood.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 68 1/4" high x 36 1/4" wide x 1 1/4" deep

Antique Japanese painting in 3 panels of a group of cranes. 8 adult cranes stand with two chicks. They are painted large scale and stand out dramatically against an all gold ground. Painted in mineral colors and gold leaf on paper and mounted in 3 frames. The signature & seal both show the painter's name as 松究 Shо̄kyū.

Age: Taisho Period (early 20th century)

Dimensions: 66 3/4" high x 109" long (total all three panels together. Size of each panel: left and right... Click for details

Antique Japanese idoguruma (well pulley) made of Oribe ware ceramic. Glazed with traditional Oribe brown floral motifs and green drips on a buff color ground. The pulley wheel is attached to it's original keyaki (elm) wood frame. Wonderful age and patina.

Age: Edo Period (early 1800's)

Dimensions: 11 3/4" wide diameter x 30 1/4" total length

Japanese scroll painting of a group of scholarly skeletons. At the top of the image, three skeletons drink tea while viewing scrolls. One skeleton displays a scroll on which the artist has signed his name. Other skeletons enjoy music played on a koto while others play go, paint scrolls and make tea. Painted in sumi-e ink and light colors on paper.

Dimensions: Total size: 78 1/2" high x 26" wide (28 1/4" wide including ends). Size of art: 52" high x 20" wide

Japanese scroll painting of a ghostly woman standing in a shoji doorway. Her robes are white, the color of death and her hair falls unkept around her shoulders. Tendrils of flame appear where rays of light shine down at an angle to catch on her sleeve. Painted in mineral colors and ink on silk.
Painted by Obata Chiura (1885-1975), painter and first professor of Japanese painting at University of California, Berkeley. Born in Ibara-cho and raised in Sendai, Japan. Chiura showed... Click for details

Japanese scroll painting of 3 skeletons celebrating Obon. One skeleton dances with a fan while two others pay a drum and a shamisen. The Obon festival happens in summer and is a time to honor the dead with music, dance, parades and other events. It is believed that ancestors' spirits return to the world of the living during Obon. Painted in ink and light colors on silk. Signed and with seal of Takeuchi Seiho (1864 - 1942) Seiho traveled and studied in Europe was being strongly influenced... Click for details

Japanese scroll painting of two skeletons hard at work counting money. The calligraphy verse up top appears to be influenced by the Confucian scholar, Kameda Bosai and is sealed Gakubutsu. Below, the skeletons pour over accounting ledgers next to a large scale. This painted portion of the scroll is sealed Nisekisai. Painted in sumi-e ink on paper.

Dimensions: 81 1/2" high x 30 3/4" wide (33" wide including rollers). Size of art: 53" high x 26 3/4" wide