A vintage Japanese bamboo wall hanging featuring the famous monk Daruma with a proverb attributed to his wisdom. The saying reads Nanakorobi Yaoki or Seven Falls Down Requires Eight Times Up. This is a Zen adage that preaches tenacity and perseverance similar to the round Daruma image shown trying to right itself.

Using old growth bamboo, this art piece was hand carved and hand hewn before lacquer was applied to the saying and the body of Daruma.

Age: Prewar... Click for details

Antique Japanese two-panel Byobu folding screen painting of a pair of Pheasants (male and female) and their chick. The male stands on a craggily rock with blooming Peonies nearby and Weeping trees in the background.

The Pheasant is a messenger of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and represents power, abundance, promise, and duty to the family while the family itself represents marital bliss. The Peony symbolizes happiness, wealth and beauty while the old jagged rock and the old truck of the... Click for details

An antique Japanese bronze Buddhist temple bell called Bonsho with a carrying handle depicting diverging dragon heads called Ryuzu. The upper protrusions called Chi or Nyu improves the resonance of the sound when struck. Two opposing striking panels called Tsuki-za is the point on the bell where the best and longest sound is achieved. A bell of this size was hung in a small temple to summon the monks to prayer.

Age: Edo Period (1800-1850)

Dimensions: 17 1/2" High by 11"... Click for details

Antique Japanese samurai's shiko ebira, open type of quiver for carrying arrows (ya). Finely made of carved wood with iron fittings and lacquer finish. Decorated with gold mon on a black lacquer ground. Comes with a set of 5 arrows and displayed on a custom fabricated bronze stand. Kyudo (the art of archery) was practiced in battle and in hunting.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: including stand: 40 1/2" high x 8 1/2" wide x 4 1/2" deep

Beautiful example of an 18th Japanese suzuribako (calligraphy box) made with a gold maki-e lacquer scene of huts near a mountain stream. The interior of the box holds rests for brushes and a compartment for an ink stone as well as a small silver water dropper. The entire inside including the underside of the lid is covered in a lovely dense nashiji (fine gold flakes suspended in clear lacquer) with young pine branches in maki-e lacquer. The larger image on the underside of the lid is of a... Click for details

Antique Japanese rectangular lacquer stationary box with a large parrot sitting on a corn stock and eyeing an ear of corn. Raised maki-e lacquer in gold and various shades of dark green and brown. The sides are further decorated with more ears of corn (a grasshopper sitting on one). The lacquer work contains great details like the texture of the parrot's feather and the stringy silk of the corn. The large reserve with the parrot and smaller reserves on the sides are treated with a red/orange... Click for details

Mayumi Oda 2-Panel Japanese folding screen titled Sea Goddess, charmingly rendered with sea maidens cavorting amidst waves and clouds. With light blue and blue colors and vermilion and black printed on white paper attached to backing of textile border with Japanese indigo fabric. Circa 1972. Signed by artist.

Print Size: 28"H x 21"W

Japanese antique samurai kura horse saddle. Carved of wood and lacquered with a fan motif in gold makie lacquer on a nashiji ground with inlay shell design on the maewa (front arched plate) as well as the shizuwa (rear arched plate). The maewa and shizuwa are connected by two igi (contoured side bands) which are decorated with shell inlay on a black lacquer ground. The igi rest on either side of the horse's spine and serve as the under frame for the leather seat (basen or kura tsubo) and are... Click for details

Japanese antique samurai kura horse saddle. Carved of wood and lacquered black with shell inlay covering the maewa (front arched plate) as well as the shizuwa (rear arched plate). The maewa and shizuwa are connected by two igi (contoured side bands). The igi rest on either side of the horse's spine and serve as the under frame for the leather seat (basen or kura tsubo) and are slotted for stirrup straps (chikara-gawa or gekiso) to pass through. Obscured signature on the bottom. Mounted on... Click for details

Antique Japanese suzuki-bako, calligraphy box. Lacquered with a profusion of wildflowers in gold maki-e technique on black lacquer ground. The underside of the lid is beautifully preserved with more wild flowers growing near a swirling stream. This scene is also rendered in maki-e but includes some flashes of red leaves and a silvery moon on a black lacquer ground with clouds of nashiji. The inside of the box has more fine nashiji clouds on a black ground and contains an ink stone and a... Click for details