Catalog: Archives (152)

A Japanese lacquered agiro pipe case (kiseruzutsu) finely decorated with a cockerel and hen, signed Shinsen (?). The pouch is tooled leather with iron and silver cockerel and hen inlaid with a gold clasp. The ojime is shaped as Daikoku's mallet in unknown material. The actual color of pipe case is closest to the photo #11. 19th century, late Edo period. Dimensions: Pipe case, 8 1/2 " long, tobacco pouch, 5 1/4 " x 3 "

It is hard to make out the second character of the signature...

The fabric was probably cut out from an old kasuri futon blanket and made into Yu-age. What is Yu-age? When I purchased this beautiful wall hanger like piece (I thought), I was told that this was Yu-age, an old fashioned sounding name to me. This is a bath towel according to the Japanese dictionary. It has never been used, in case you are wondering. All the basting stitches are clean...

I have never seen this type of Hina Goten (Palace) until I found this one. No longer a spring chicken myself, I asked several people in Japan if they knew anything about this style. No one knew. We may call this a rare find. The Hina ningyo (doll) set that I grew up with was displayed in the steps style, which is still a common way of displaying 15 dolls with furnitures as long as a space permits...

This old pair of candle holders is called Shokudai. The large tweezers hanging from a hook is used to pinch the wick. Then, the wick will be stored in the small brass pot. The base of these holders and plates are beautifully shaped like lotus flowers which has been always associated with Buddha and the temples. It weighs over 10 pounds packed and 26.8 inches tall. Circa, Meiji period (1868 to 1912). Original wood box...

Fierce looking old Samurai ningyo (Japanese doll) in rare museum quality. His head is carved wood and the face resembles kabuki actors or Jyoruri ningyo (18th to 19th century puppet theater dolls) from the Edo period (1603-1868). It is definitely a work of art.

The Suoh, the outfit that the doll is wearing, was worn by different ranking samurais at various periods in history. The fabric is made out of Asa (Japanese hemp) and the rest is silk...

This is an antique fukusa (Japanese gift cover) that the design came from the old folk tale called Urashima Taro. It is the story of a man who rescued a turtle from a group of cruel children. The turtle, who happened to be a princess of a dragon palace in disguise, returns later to thank him. The turtle invited him to tour the undersea world to her palace. He spends many days wined (with sake, I suppose) and dined, forgetting the time...

A pair of Japanese silk brocade temple banners with gold threads decorated with a dragon, a phoenix and floral roundels on a shippo background; the edges with white (aged to brownish beige) borders and brass mounts with engraved flowers.

The shape of the banners is almost identical to the banners (hundreds) that were discovered from Shoso-in, the repository of Todai-ji temple...

We learn how people lived in the Edo period (1603-1867) from the dolls (ningyo) that were left to us today. They are called Fuuzoku (customs and manners) ningyo or Ukiyo (floating world) ningyo. There are basically two types of dolls of young men among them.

Wakashu ningyo is one of them. Wakashu was used to refer to young men who had yet to experience the ceremonial rite of passage of becoming a man, commonly at the age of 12 in the old time...

Very impressive Japanese clay doll, 17 inches tall oiran geisha ningyo (doll). When the hina dolls were limited only to a few wealthy people, these clay dolls were for regular people (more than 90 percent of the population)...

These 26 assortments of Japanese kasuri patchwork cloths came from old kimonos (some are new), thin to thick cotton. Some have tiny holes, fadings or repairs. One is lined with an ai dye blue fabric.

The largest one is 13 3/4" x 25 1/2"; the smallest 6" x 6 1/4". The total length together: 13 3/4" x approx. 23'(276 inches)

Beautiful man's short jacket, hand painted on Asa(hemp). It is in excellent conditon, very rare to find this quality in this condition. This type of kimono is becoming very scarce every year.

The black dye changed its color to a dark gray which is nice in its own way...