Antique Japanese Fukusa (gift cover), an old Chinese koto (string music instrument) player by a waterfall. Embroidered on silk satin, lined with soft crepe silk, circa 1800s. 1/2" x 30 1/2"
A large cloud moves in and stirs the air in the forest. Water falls to the river as if it was falling from the sky and ripples the water to shore. The resonance of the koto breaks the silence in the forest. The ...click for details
Old Japanese nobori banner, a spectacular wall hanging decor piece, circa 1920-1940. Dyed on thick cotton is the farewell scene of *Kusunoki Masashige with his son, Masatsura. The scroll handed to his son is a will written for the family before he headed for the last battle.
This type of picturesque banner has been used for the Japanese Boy’s Day since late Edo period. Some are still made today but the quality has ...click for details
There is no visible image of god in Japanese Shinto religion. For this reason, people naturally find the spirit of god in their surroundings, especially in nature, as they found it in the old pine trees.
In the noh play “Takasaga”, the old couple are seen together on the beach of Takasago (today’s Hyogo prefecture) sweeping fallen pine needles under the trees. The old man Jo and old woman Uba are the spirits of the pine trees that were grown in Takasago and Sumiyoshi. The two trees ...click for details
Beautiful art work of Tosa Mitsutoki* embroidered with a theme from the Noh play "Takasago" on antique fukusa, a Japanese gift cover. The signature, seal and other characters are embroidered. To find a signature on a fukusa from this period (late Edo) is very rare; in fact, I have never seen one. The characters (at the bottom left side) read "e-dokoro azukari" which is the title for the head of the Imperial Painting Bureau. The characters in the next column translate t ...click for details
Old Japanese fukusa gift cover, turtles embroidered with gold wrapped threads on soft blue satin silk (old shusu), padded and lined with red crepe silk, Meiji period (1868-1912). Dimensions: 23" wide x 25" long
Japanese antique fukusa, a gift cover embroidered with "The Old Couple of Takasago" on wool (rasha, felt like), padded and lined with orange crepe silk, Meiji period (1868-1912).
The story of the old couple, Jo and Uba came from the Noh play, Takasago written during the Muromachi period (1336-1573) by Zeami. Jo and Uba were spirits who resided in an old pine tree which was two trees that grew together ove ...click for details
Japanese silk fukusa, a gift cover with the design of the "Eight Views of Omi", embroidered on satin, early to mid 1800s. 26" wide x 27" long.
The Eight Views of Omi were first thought to have been written by Konoe Masaie in 1500. Kanoe found similarities in the scenery around Lake Biwa (Shiga, near Kyoto) to the Chinese Lake Dongting area which was depicted in the "Eight Views of the Xia ...click for details
Antique silk Kesa, an outer garment worn by Japanese Buddhist priests, cotton liner, padded with papers, late Edo to early Meiji period. Dimensions: 76 1/2" x 43 1/2"
This is a "kataginu" (shoulder cloth), only the upper vest of kamishimo without trousers. Kami-shimo simply means top and bottom in Japanese. It was a high ranking samurai's formal attire when they attended official meetings at the Edo castle. It was worn over kosode (kimono with small sleeves) with trousers. The shoulders are arch shaped and this was the style that developed in the late Edo period (1603-1868). Longer trousers (approx. 1.5 times longer) were chosen for special occa ...click for details
