An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant Chest) made of Hinoki (Cypress), Kirinoki (Paulownia) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Original Shunkei Nuri (lacquer) on the front with a wiped lacquer technique on the top and sides which accentuates the beautiful grain pattern of the woods. The backs of all the drawers were made using very thick wood. The hand made iron hardware is also original including the stylized Gumbai handles and the bronze sliding door handles. Natural aged dark patina... Click for details

An antique Japanese 3 section Kimono Biraki Isho Tansu (stacking chest on chest with hinged doors) constructed entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. Hinged doors open to 3 removable kimono trays. Spacious storage behind the sliding doors in the top section with 3 additional side by side storage drawers. Bottom section has 2 large drawers for additional storage space. Each section can be separated for use in different rooms of the home. Retaining its original finish, it would both be... Click for details

Antique Japanese carved boxwood jizai-okimono of a dragon. Literally meaning "decorative object, moves at will", this jizai-okimono is made up of many separately carved moving pieces. There are differing theories about why these articulated creatures came to be made, the most accepted being that the armorers who normally created suits started crafting jizai-okimono as a way to show off their skills to daimyos in hopes of being chosen next time their armor needed to be replaced. During the... Click for details

Antique Chinese hardwood ruyi scepter, naturalistically carved in the gnarled form of a lingzhi mushroom. A ruyi (meaning "as desired" or "as you wish" in Chinese) is a symbol of power and good fortune. Larger ruyi were held by nobility as scepters, smaller ruyi acted as a talisman. Because of it's many medicinal uses and it's power to balance one's qi (life force), lingzhi fungus is often seen in Chinese art as a symbol of health and longevity.

Republic Period... Click for details

Antique Japanese small bronze door latch in the form of a rabbit. The rabbit sits on a section of hollowed out log. The log is patinated green and the rabbit, a deep orange. With signed tomobako.

Age: Taisho/Showa Period (circa early 1900's)

Dimensions: 1 1/4" high x 2 1/8" long x 1 1/4" wide

A rare small size bronze Laos rain drum. Would have originally been given as a gift to a wealthy family's children to play. Stunning relief work seen with great detail on all sides. Pair of four frogs sit atop the flat surface. Excellent original condition with beautiful patina consistent with age.
With a lot of respect, if not fearfully, Kmmu played bronze drums for all kinds of ceremonies: to pray for the rain to come or to stop, to protect against animals or thieves in harvest... Click for details

Antique Japanese figure of seated Quan yin, made of carved cinnabar lacquer. She is seated on a lotus throne and holds a scroll in her hands. Her robes are carved all over with floral and Buddhist motifs. Her facial expression is serene, befitting her role as goddess of compassion.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 6 1/4" high x 3 1/2" wide x 3 1/4" deep

Antique Nepalese bronze figures of Yama Dharmaraja and Yami in tantric embrace. The buffalo headed Buddhist protector, Lord of Death and Justice stands with his consort. He tramples a male buffalo with one foot, a female victim with the other. He brandishes a skull-tipped stick in his right hand and his hair streams out in flames behind his horns.

Age: 19th century

Dimensions: 5 1/4" high x 3 1/4" wide x 2" deep

Antique Chinese pair of ornately carved gilt wood panels. Each panel is a mirror of the other and depicts a scholarly display of flowers in an elaborately carved vase. Among the flowers are lotus, peonies, berry stalks and blossoming fruit branches. Attracted to the berries, are a pair of kingfishers. Each vase stands on a multi tiered display with scrolls in boxes and upright containers surrounded by bats and kylin (qilin). Later backed with dark purple glass.

Age: 19th... Click for details

Antique Japanese wooden bowl carved in the form of a wide lotus leaves. On the inside of the bowl, a frog with turquoise eye climbs the stalk of a lotus blossom. Two more frogs cling to curling leafy edges. The underside of the bowl is carved like the underside of a lotus leaf including it's spiraling stalk.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 12 1/4" wide diameter x 3 1/4" high