Catalog (216)

Japanese antique nobori banner, hand painted on cotton, a tiger in bamboo grove. The style of the painting is derived from ancient Korean paintings of tigers. It is a style that became popular in Japan from the 16th century and you will see many screens and scrolls of tigers painted in this manner. The popularity of these paintings in this style continued throughout the Edo period(1608-1868) and into the Meiji era. The quality of the artwork tells us that this nobori is likely to have been done ...

This is “kataginu” (shoulder cloth), only the upper vest of kamishimo without a trouser. 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...

This is “kataginu” (shoulder cloth), only the upper vest of kamishimo without a trouser. 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...

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 a 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 occasions. The s...

This is a Japanese fukusa, a gift cover with the design of the “Eight Views of Omi”. In the beginning of the 16th century, eight scenic spots in Omi (Shiga, Japan) were selected by closely following the Chinese “The Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers”. The original version of the "Eight Views" is said to be painted by Song Di in the 11th century – the paintings no longer exist today.* The masterpiece that depicted beautiful landscapes around Lake Dongting in Hunan Provinc...

Beautiful art work of Tosa Mitsutoki* embroidered with a theme from the Noh play "Takasago" on an 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 to Tosa Sakin Shog...

There is no visible image of God in Japanese Shinto religion. For this reason, people find the spirit of God in their surroundings, especially in nature. In the noh play “Takasago”, an old couple is seen together on the beach of Takasago (today’s Hyogo prefecture) sweeping 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 are located far away but they are together with their spirits. ...

A section of old Chinese cloth taken from the shoulder section of a seventh rank official's formal court dragon robe, silk backing (some damages on line). Please ask. 18-19th century. 27" x 29 1/2"

Antique Japanese Fukusa (gift cover), an old Chinese koto player by a waterfall. Embroidered on silk satin, lined with soft crepe silk, circa 1800s. 27 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 were falling from the sky and ripples it to shore. The resonance of the koto breaks the silence of the forest. The design on this fukusa is likely to have come from one of the old Chinese poems. This Chinese man can be Lin Bu (967...

Japanese Imari charger finely enameled with panels of two phoenixes on stylized floral scrolling grounds - all in green, red, blue and purple enamel with gilding. The reverse side is decorated in underglaze blue with karakusa scroll pattern and with fork shaped factory mark. The phoenix (Ho-o in Japanese) is a mythological bird known to appear in time of peace and prosperity. It symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. Dimensions: 16" (40.5cm) in diameter, 2 3/4" (7.2cm)...

Noh Mask (noh-men), Hanakobu Akujyo (Akujou), bumpy nosed fierce old man. Besides the distinctive nose, he has a deep V-shaped crease between his eyebrows and the veins on his temples to his forehead, piercing bulging eyes, teeth painted in gold, with a tan colored horsehair beard and mustache. Not an ordinary face of an old man, he appears to possess something supernatural. This men(mask) is very lightweight. Written on the reverse side is "Hana kobu Aku jyo" in gold. His mask is large for ...

Takeda dolls are modeled after the popular characters from the theater play during the Edo period. They are known for their exaggerated posture and facial expressions of the puppet dolls and kabuki actors on stage. The dolls in this style, with the distinguished Kabuki actor’s makeup called ‘kumadori’ (first created by Danjyuro Ichikawa I, 1660-1704) were made in late Edo to early Meiji period. The dolls might have been sold in large cities such as Osaka and Edo(Tokyo) where the...

The fabric is thick, silver brocade that appears to be taken from a Japanese woman's old obi from late Edo period. The liner is cotton. During the Edo period (1602-1868), there was a custom that the family of a deceased woman would donate her favorite kimono to the temple; some beautiful temple cloths were created from those wonderful fabrics. The custom was likely to have continued after the period. The design on the fabric is the four benevolent animals of Chinese mythology; qulin, drag...

The theme on this fukusa (Japanese gift cover) is “Kin ki Sho ga”, four accomplishments of noblemen. For a man to be well balanced and eventually become a good leader, practicing (and become good at) of “Kin ki Sho ga” was encouraged during their leisure time; ‘Kin’ (Jp. Koto, string music instrument), ‘ki’ (jp. ‘Go’, Chinese chess), ‘sho’ (calligraphy) and ‘ga’ (painting). This started in China and was brought back to Japan by traveling monks studying Buddhism...

This is the upper part of a kamishimo; samurai's formal attire without the trousers. It was worn over a kosode (kimono with small sleeves) with trousers. The texture is hemp like; coarse, slightly translucent, thick threads (thicker than other kamishimo). The family crest is the feathers of a hawk. Kami-shimo (upper-lower) that we currently have are quite dandy and fashionable. The amazing thing is the work that is involved when making these fabrics. You can make a kamishimo top into a g...

Daimyo hikeshi shozoku: Samurai firefighter's wool jacket with a silk velvet collar; the crest and design are couched with gold leaf thread (wrapped around silk thread), chest protector and belt. Excellent, clean condition with some holes and damages in velvet collar. Late Edo period (1603-1868), 50" wide x 39" long, Chest protector, 25 1/4" long.

There were many fires during the Edo period (1603-1868). The town of Edo was crowded with houses quickly built after the first Tokugawa Sh...

A pair of Japanese lacquered iron abumi (stirrups) decorated with gold lacquer on a roiro ground. It has butterfly family crests (mon) in the center of a scrolling leaf and flower border, the interior in red lacquer.

The butterfly design was a favorite among the aristocrats and was seen in their belongings, ox-carts and attire during the Heian period (794-1192). They were also seen in armor of the Heike (Taira family) before power was shifted to the Genji (Minamoto family) samurai. It ...

This is a beautiful Japanese wedding gown (uchikake). Featured on brownish orange (when you looked at it where the gold does not take over, the basic color looks more like brownish red) silk are flocks of white cranes and stylized water in roundels of gold. The tone of the gold is rich but soft. The design is unique, elegant, artistic and well executed with excellent workmanship. The condition is almost new. The color is ligher than shown in the photos but it can change to soft to strong depen...

Japanese Boy's Day samurai Yoroi and Kabuto (armor,helmet) set. Musha ningyo (Samurai dolls), Yoroi and Kabuto (helmet), swords, banners and carps are a part of the display used for the Boy's Day in Japan. Culturally, the Japanese emphasize anything to do with children. The Girl's day with hina dolls is in March. The warrior's set like this will inspire boys in their manliness and hopefully bravery, discipline and honor codes come with it.

All the fabric used marked as pure silk....

Elegant Japanese kimono wedding gown (Uchikake) designed by Hanae Mori. The gown displays the designer’s logo without a signature; her butterflies and initials are woven all over the red liner. Hanae Mori is truly the first and most famous international Japanese designer of the 20th century. She not only contributed to the Japanese clothing industry but to many other areas since the rebuilding time of Japan after WWII. A year after she opened a boutique in Paris, she became the only asian w...

This is a beautiful dark blue Japanese Uchikake (wedding gown) made in Nishijin, Kyoto. The label states the name of Nishijin and the use of pure gold. The gown is woven with fans and Gosho (palace) flower carts which is one of the favorite motifs used for Japanese wedding gowns. They are remainders of the Heian period (794-1192) which was the last graceful era of the aristocrats. The gown is meticulously hand sewn to perfection as most Japanese kimonos are. The gold picks up and shines...

Japanese Uchikake (wedding gown) with Imperial Carts, flowers and gold color “maku” (outside cloth divider). The divider is used as a street on this gown leading the wagons to the large area at the bottom half. The background colors from the top are orange, light pink to dark gray at the bottom. The liner is red. The condition is excellent, like new.
53" W x 75 1/2" L (sleeve length 41")

Elegant Japanese uchikake (traditional wedding gown) sewn in the style of the twelve layered court attire (juni-hitoe) from the Heian period (794-1160). The longing for the beautiful, culture rich era of the aristocrats that existed so long ago never seems to cease in people's mind even after 1000 years. Here on this red background, the classic design of the ox-cart in a pine forest is beautifully woven in gold. The layer of robes could have gone up to 15 or even more. High ranking ladies ...

Large Japanese porcelain vase by Shumei Fujii, decorated with the design of white herons and pine in underglaze blue and pale green. The rest of the areas are covered with white gold (straight translation from the "title", platinum like), all hand decorated with the artist’s signature at the bottom. Beautiful "Tsubo" in museum quality.

Shumei Fujii (1936 to present) is a famous Arita ceramic artist with a remarkable record. He won numerous awards and prizes at art exhibitions ov...

Japanese uchikake (wedding gown) with a colorful design of flowers and birds done in the Tsujigahana-zome (dye) style. The old Tsujigahana dye technique was used on the clothing of the Muromachi to Momoyama period elites. Inside the tie dyed area, flowers and birds were painted with blue, purple and black ink. Tsujigahana-dye was short lived and completely vanished by the early 17th century because of its extreme complexity. This gown is very beautiful with many woven metal threads;...

9.5 feet long hand-painted Japanese carp banner (Koi-nobori) for Boy's Day. Here on this banner, a mighty little boy named Kintaro, is hitching a ride on a carp. Kintaro may be a creation from a theater play (jyoruri and kabuki) of the Edo period – although he is said to be a childhood figure of the 10th century samurai, Sakata no Kinsuke - he is extremely strong and still a popular hero figure for Japanese boys. Kintaro (Kinta) figures are often seen carrying an ax, wrestling with bea...

Japanese armor Yoroi and Kabuto helmet in classic style, wearable, adult size from early to mid Showa period (1926~1989). The armor is lined with hemp in most area. Dimensions: 67" tall. Box: 16 1/2" x 16 1/2" x 24"H

A large cloth, silk brocade, lined with cotton with ties on one side. Dimensions: 104 1/4” long x 45” in width (2.65m x 1.14m). There are four 26” panels sewn together (sewing machine), each panel is decorated with a pair of phoenix birds one parched on a paulownia tree and the other on a rock. Although the fabric is of high quality silk, it actually is older than it appears - you need to handled gently. The gold sparkles when it is hit by lights. The color is not red. It is mo...

Fine Japanese miniature garden kit, all made with natural material, ca 1940-1960, original wood box. We used a simple cardboard box as a tray with small black pebbles under. You can created/draw water if the sand is used instead. The dimension of the box are 15 3/4” x 7 3/16” x 3 5/8”. Fence: 9 1/8 long (flattened for storage) x 3 3/4” high. Board with a frog: 5 1/8” long. Please ask for other measurements.

Japanese Fukagawa vase with raised persimmon. Fukagawa is located in Saga (Arita/Imari area) in sourthern Kyushu ireland and has been well known for its quality white porcelain. The signature indicates that this was probably made in early 1900s. The measurements are 6 1/4 inches high and 5 1/4 inches wide in diameter.

Japanese cloth taken from an old futon bed cover, decorated with an auspicious motif of pine, bamboo and plum blossoms. The evergreen pine symbolizes the strength and devotion of men; plum blossoms are the purity, subtle beauty and inner strength of women. Bamboos are often used to describe the personality of men and women; for example, a person being as straight (honest) as bamboo, it could also mean flexible (bendable) to a large extent. When pine (matsu, SHO), bamboo (take, CHIKU) and plum ...

Japanese obi, nagoya style, painted with two noh masks on soft satin silk. The base color is a gentle pink/wisteria color with earth-tone. Taisho/Early Showa.

This is an antique men's silk juban, an undergarment worn under a kimono. For today’s standards, it is very odd to see such an extravagant hidden personal item. During the Edo period, which ended in 1868, common people were not allowed to wear silk. The growing economical power of merchants came along with social disorder and corruption. The Tokugawa government issued many sumptuary laws to limit the spending of the general people on luxury items. One way to avoid the punishment was to spend t...

Kesa was originally made from old scraps of material donated to the priests. The scraps became finer and quite luxious in time. People who gave to Buddhist institutions were often keen to give very expensive items, so some fabulous kesas were created from wonderful silk brocades. This also could mean that the wealthier temples end up collecting the better fabrics or are able to send out for the expensive custom made kesas. This kesa is hichi-jo (seven panel) kesa, silk brocade with silver ...

Large Japanese antique oshi-e ningyo(doll), Kabuki samurai "aragoto" actor on stage: Matsumoto Oshi-e bina (hina ningyo in Oshi-e style) was originally made by the Samurai family who served in the Matsumoto Castle to supplement their income sometime in the mid Edo period (1603-1868). They became quite quite popular in the 1800s, 400 million dollars sale (in current currency) was recorded in 1888. The characteristics of Matsumoto Oshi-e ningyo (dolls) are that the design is stuffed heavily ...