Catalog: Archives: Regional Art: Asian (588)

A 16th to 17th century (Momoyama to early Edo period) candle-stick of vine or root set onto a hollow carved base and covered in black and red lacquer with a metal stud and drip pan. It is 11 inches (28 cm) tall and in overall fine condition, with wear typical of centuries of use.

Starting with the famous verse by Chinese Scholar YoYu (AD 53-18) ”The written character is a picture of the heart” (Sho kokoro Ga nari) here are written 42 rules of calligraphy spread over 10 narrow panels by the famous calligraphist Ide Gakei dated 1677. The verses appear to have been written in one sitting, the style going from crisp perfect Kaisho characters through Gyosho stylized characters and into the elegantly running Grass script (Sosho). The way the artist allows his hand to flow ever more freely with each line is captivating when taking in the whole, and creates a dynamic not often found. The calligraphy work is mounted on ten gold panels bordered in black lacquer. The screen is 150 x 19-1/2 inches (382 x 49.5 cm).
The rules of writing reflect the scholar ideas which came from Ming China and the humble nature of the Japanese Tea Ceremony (Sado, the way of tea). A great writer must be a small man, the written hand is a window to the soul, The heart must be right or the verse will not flow etc.
Ide Gakei (b. 1644) was a well known and published calligraphist studied under Sasaki Shizuma and Uchida Teshu. He lived his early life serving the powerful Kaga fief, where his calligraphy became known throughout Japan. He later moved to Kyoto where he passed on his unique style to Suzuki Shosui. Gakei was also known as, Shosui and or another Shosui using alternate characters. Several of his original published books, including Zoku Senjimon and Sosho Enkai, are held in the Waseda University Library

Namiamidabutsu sho (Praise to the name of Amiddha Buddha) is scrawled in faint verse down the upper right, while on the left is a warning, kono tori, minasama goyojin goyojin (all those on this path, be wary be wary…) The two scripts are separated by a grave marker at the base of which lies a skull and scattered bones among the unkempt dried grasses. A very unusual seal in the shape of a Buddhist ewer hugs the right edge. Early to mid Edo period in the style of Hakuin Eikaku (1686-1768). Ink on paper, it has been fully restored with a thin black border in a field of dark brown and retains the original bone rollers. The scroll is 42.5 x 165 cm and in excellent condition

A perfect example of the Early Edo Tea aesthetic in this Chatsubo dating from the first half of the Edo period, a splash of black over rust with a white glazed waste from the Seto region around modern day Nagoya. It comes with an ancient wooden bung and wrapping cloth. The pot is roughly 27 cm (11 inches) tall and in overall excellent condition, with typical wear around the foot. No cracks or repairs. Called Koshijiro (White wasted) this style became popular in the end of the 16th century, and were produced in both the Seto region, and a similar style in Kyushu.

An unusual 17th to early 18th century Screen featuring a koto harp and candle stand behind a screen under blossoming prunus, a spry group of pine in front and rushing water beyond. Incredible veining in the gold. Like much of Japanese art, the viewer is asked to interpret the scene as they see fit. Perhaps the remnants of a night of poetry and music under the plum blossoms. Perhaps the lonely Michizane playing to the moon, alone in exile with thoughts longing for Kyoto. All performed with heavy pigment on paper and genuine applied gold foil. It is framed with black lacquered wood. The screen is 47-1/2 by 106-1/2 inches (120 x 171 cm) and is in overall fine condition considering the age, with damage typical of the very heavy pigment used on the pine in the fore. The candle stand is performed in moriage technique and has lost some of the original black coating.

A Momoyama-early Edo period gold screen depicting a happy god of fortune drinking while being pulled by deer in his elaborate wagon through a rocky landscape. The paper is wrinkled and creased with age, and the color worn, exuding a great sense of antiquity. The bold patterns and rich texture of the Edo period brocade border amplifies that feeling. The screen is 22-1/2 x 56 inches (57 x 142 cm) and has a shaped lacquered wood frame retaining antique paper backing with some repairs.

A typical Muromachi style Sansui screen showing scholarly travelers in a ragged landscape of precipitous hills and temples dusted with clouds of gold flake likely dating from the late 16th century. It is bordered in fine antique patterned brocade with a black lacquered frame. The gold mist engulfs the scene, giving life to the unusually large figures, a Muromachi-Momoyama trait. In the area about the travelers’ path, gold has been rubbed into the paper, giving it a soft sheen. The screen measures 64-1/2 x 142 inches (164 x 361 cm) and is Completely Restored.

A beautiful large black Seto Guro Hikidashi Chawan with undulating rim sculpted to perfectly rest in the hands by some anonymous 17th to 18th century potter. It is 5 inches (13 cm) diameter, 3 inches (8 cm) tall and in fine condition.

Early Edo Myochin Signed Nimai Do with Nanban influence featuring gilded kusazuri and sode laced with blue chord dated Genwa 3 (1620). There are rows of Prominent rivets all about with nobori-kiri crests on the top of the munaita. Comes with an old wrapping cloth dyed with the same crest. The Hon-kozane Kusazuri are removable, attached to two leather belts suspended from iron tongs about the waist. The takahimo shoulder straps are wrapped in leather. The shaped horn clasps are extant but one is broken, the other delicate. The signature and date along with another illegible cartouche are inside the Do exposed through squares cut through the gilded leather lining. Made for an adult, it comes with a set of gilded Sode shoulder guards laced with the same indigo chord.

A misshapen bowl excavated and assembled from several pieces using the kintsugi gold technique. Originally a kiln flaw, it was likely destroyed after creation, later to be excavated and assembled as was popular in the later Edo period. Misshapen,and with a large kutsuki on one side, it is 4 x 5 x 3 inches (10 x 12.5 x 8 cm) and comes in a wooden box.

An Annan pottery tea bowl for use in the Japanese tea ceremony from the kilns of 15th-16th century Vietnam enclosed in an age-blackened kiri-wood box. The crackled pale glaze is decorated with a band of blue frets about the rim inside, a decidedly modern design of droplets descending in beads down the outside typical of early Vietnamese decoration. The remnants of a kinran gold infused cloth bag remain for wrapping the piece, the outside layer is in tatters, but the inside brocade is still supple. Named “Full Moon” (man-getsu) the inside of the box lid is endorsed by a tea master. It is 5 inches (13.5 cm) diameter. There are three kin-tsugi gold repairs about the rim. The 14th/15th century Ming ban on export of Chinese ceramics provided the opportunity for the Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese to capture a substantial portion of the Asian consumer market for pottery, and trade flourished between the Kingdoms of Vietnam and Japan. In fact according to research by Guy Faure and Laurent Schwab of the 10 officially licensed ports of trade during the time of Hideyoshi (late 1500s) seven were in present day Vietnam. This would lead to the establishment of vast trading towns and large numbers of Japanese in South East Asia until the Sakoku era when Japan closed itself to outside contact. Those Japanese still outside the country at the time were never able to return, and eventually blended with the native populations of their adopted countries. This piece has likely been preserved and prized as a Chawan, handed down from generation to generation for four centuries.

Here is a very rare early Edo period Ni-mai-do Gusoku prominently displaying a Christian cross like symbol on the front and back of the chest plate in gold. It has a simple kabuto of 6 vertically joined iron plates falling from a circular peak, with a three lame Shikoro. Displayed on front is a wooden crescent moon maedate covered in textured gold (likely a later reproduction). The mask is an unusual Hanpo with a very small mouth in the Momoyama style. The Sode consist of five pieces, the lowermost trimmed and covered in gold, which has largely worn away. The two piece iron Okegawa-do is covered in black lacquer and bears the cross symbol on both front and back. From the waste hang 7 rows of fluted Gessan in red Odoshi. The sangu (Kote, Suneate, Haidate) are made of heavy iron splints connected by chain mail over indigo dyed hemp. It comes with the box pictured, a quality kiri box much worn and often repaired over the centuries (the stand is not included).

A deep and mournful sound emanates from this ancient Temple bell from Zennoji temple dated the 20th day, fourth month of 1686. One panel is inscribed Humbly presented, Shokakuzan Zenno Zen-Temple treasure, For the Nyodendoshi-Mujo Bosatsu Buddha. It is further inscribed Donated by Harada Shitaro of Saijo Village for the priest Jusanzoshu. We have been told by the previous owner this and another bell are from Zennoji Temple in Kanazawa prefecture. The striker plate, in the form of a petaled flower, has worn over time to be almost indistinguishable in form. The bell measures 21 inches (53 cm) tall, 12-1/2 inches (32 cm) in diameter. There is a casting flaw beneath one of the studs, with a dent below, otherwise is in fine condition, especially considering its age. Originally a small Zen temple founded in 1566 on Shokakuzan Mountain, Zennoji was moved down to the base of the mountain later, and is recorded in the book ShinpenKamakuraShi published in 1685. The temples records state it was moved after being heavily damaged from a typhoon caused landslide. This is believed to have taken place over time between 1688 and 1731. Currently the temple bears a different first character (Sennoji), however is still read Zennoji in the local district. Now the temple houses a standing Kanon, but was originally said to have been dedicated to AizenMyo-O, destroyed by fire in the later Edo, and it was after this last rebuilding the temple name was changed.

Copper green and dark iron decorate the pale glazed sides of this exquisite box dating from the early Edo period (17th century) wrapped in a silk lined sarasa bag and enclosed in a black lacquered wood box. It is 1-3/4 inches (4.5 cm) square, roughly 3 inches (7 cm) tall and in overall fine condition.

A lovely roku-yu glazed form from the kilns of Korea mounted on a tri-pronged rosewood stand and enclosed in a period kiri-wood box. It is 12 inches (30 cm) tall plus the stand. There are minor chips about the rim. An excellent piece for use in the tea room. Likely 15th to early 17th centuries (Possibly later Goryeo likely early Joseon).

Hints of the finest powdered gold gleam on the edges of this ghostly white tea bowl dating from the early Edo period. Iron-like freckles pepper the surface which is subtly clouded with soft color. The base is almost entirely covered in glaze, the glimpses of earth worn dark with age and use. It comes wrapped in a silk bag with an age darkened kiri wood box titled Hagi Chawan and named within Kan-no-yuki annotated by Yabunouchi Chikusojochi (1864-1942) 11th head of the Yabunouchi school of tea. The bowl is 5 inches (13 cm) diameter, 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall with 4 gold repairs to glaze losses in the rim, otherwise is in excellent condition.

A lightning shaped Narumi-Oribe Mukozuke dish decorated with geometrics and drying persimmons enclosed in a fine custom kiri-wood box titled “E-Oribe Mukozuke” and annotated “Mino Ko-gama” by Living National Treasure Kato Takuo, who was well known for his research into old kilns and firing techniques. One of the best preserved pieces I have seen in a long time dating from the Momoyama to early Edo period.; it originally had three looping feet which have been lost. The dish is 5 x 4-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches (13 x 11 x 4 cm) and is in overall very good condition.
Kato Takuo, I am sure, requires no introduction. He was trained in ceramics by both his father, Kato Kobei, and at the Kyoto School of ceramics. He was soon accepted and consistently displayed at any number of National and International Exhibitions, and was named an Intangible Cultural Asset (Living National Treasure) in 1995.

A matching Edo period Myochin signed Go-mai-do Gusoku yoroi lacquered black and threaded with blue chord emblazoned with a seven star crest. It features a 24 plate suji kabuto with elaborate tehen kanamomo signed Myochin Ki Munemasa saku. The blossoming Shikoro features large back-turned Fukigaeshi and mabizashi covered in leather and also emblazoned with the seven star crest. Inserted in front is a sharp kuwa-gata maedate. The mask is a reisei ho with prominent flanges matching the design of the helmet and sode. Large five plate sode protect the shoulders, and the Do, made up of five hinged parts, supports 9 rows of gessan to protect the waist. The raw iron sangu is on all matching cloth dyed with the 7 star crest. The Haidate is of the Kawara style with leather plates lacquered black, and the suneate are signed, as is the helmet, Myochin Munemasa. It is in oveall fine condition. There are a few chips onteh mask typical of use, and the base of the maedate uke has been repaired. For more photographs please contact me.
Myochin Munemasa (Shahei) was a descendant (24th generation) of Myochin Munesuke active in Edo during the Tenwa era (later 17th century).