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Used Shamisen

Street Singers (Ukiyobushi), Shamisen Player and Singer
By Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei)
Located in Middletown, NY
Watanabe Shozaburo, 1936. Woodblock in colors on handmade mulberry paper, Koban 182 x 120 mm, full margins. With the Shôtei artist seal in red ink, upper right. Signed "Shotei" and t...
Category

Early 20th Century Used Shamisen

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Woodcut

Japanese Children in Traditional Dress Playing Shamisen - Woman Artist
Located in Miami, FL
East meets West in this charming illustration where a female American Illustrator paints a scene of two jovial Japanese youths in a semi-Japanese style. Clara Miller Burd was a brill...
Category

Early 20th Century American Realist Used Shamisen

Materials

Watercolor

A Geisha Prepares for a Shamisen Performance for the New Year-by Y. Shigenobu
By Yanagawa Shigenobu
Located in Roma, IT
A geisha prepares for a shamisen performance for the New Year is an original modern artwork
Category

19th Century Modern Used Shamisen

Materials

Etching

Vintage Handpainted Silk Japanese Geisha Screen With Ricepaper Backing
Located in Waxahachie, TX
by bamboo trees. Little details, a shamisen, or Japanese guitar, a rice paper scroll, a Geisha
Category

1970s Japanese Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Silk, Wood

2 Japanese Ukiyo-e Geisha Woodblock Prints After Eishi & Utamaro 43"
Located in Dayton, OH
Pleasure Quarters, showing a slender geisha in gold and red, with a shamisen (stringed instrument) at her
Category

20th Century Japonisme Used Shamisen

Materials

Paper

Japanese Decorative Art Openwork Iron Partition
Located in Marseille, FR
ceremony, one of which is playing the shamisen like Japanese prints and serving as a room divider, note
Category

Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Used Shamisen

Materials

Iron

Used Japanese Decorative Art Openwork Iron Partition
Japanese Decorative Art Openwork Iron Partition
H 100.4 in W 139.77 in D 1.58 in
Nakamura Daikichi - Woodcut Print by Utagawa Toyokuni - 1820s
By Utagawa Toyokuni
Located in Roma, IT
Shamisen probably tell the love drama of the play Koi hikyaku Yamato orai. Signature Toyokuni ga
Category

19th Century Modern Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Bachi
By Masayuki Nagare
Located in New York, NY
Japanese Shamisen lute, instilling the work with great ritualistic significance. For Nagare, the bachi is
Category

20th Century Used Shamisen

Materials

Granite

Used Bachi
H 43.5 in W 16.94 in D 11.13 in
'View of Futakawa', After Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川廣重, Ukiyo-e Woodblock, Tokaido
By Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige)
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
musicians, as evidenced by the shamisen [three-stringed lutes] they carry on their backs. A similar scene to
Category

Mid-20th Century Used Shamisen

Materials

Sumi Ink, Washi Paper

Antique Austro-Hungarian Silver and Enamel Cigarette / Card Case
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Japanese ladies playing traditional Japanese instruments, the koto (13 stringed zither) and the shamisen (3
Category

20th Century Slovenian Used Shamisen

Materials

Silver, Enamel

"Gonta and Osato, Walking Beauty in Winter Eve, " Japanese Color Woodcut
By Utagawa Toyokuni II
Located in Milwaukee, WI
godairiki on her shamisen guitar, as was tradition for a geisha swearing fidelity to her lover. However, the
Category

1850s Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Very Large Japanese Bronze Ferry Boat Okimono by Seiya
Located in Christchurch, GB
bijin clutching her hat whilst holding a shamisen, aside her is an elderly lady leaning forward upon a
Category

19th Century Japanese Meiji Used Shamisen

Materials

Bronze

Used Very Large Japanese Bronze Ferry Boat Okimono by Seiya
Very Large Japanese Bronze Ferry Boat Okimono by Seiya
Free Shipping
H 11.5 in W 38.5 in D 13.5 in
Japanese Beauties Enjoy a Full Moon
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Burbank, CA
air of mystery. The seated woman on the right is perhaps a geisha, as we see a shamisen lying next to
Category

1840s Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut, Mulberry Paper

Japanese Geisha- exotic daguerreotype reproduction Framed
By FPA Francis Pavy Artist
Located in Lafayette, LA
serving tea while engaging in polite conversation with the spectators. Her shamisen, a traditional
Category

2010s Surrealist Used Shamisen

Materials

Inkjet

Japanese Art Ukiyo-e Figurative Painting, Tomimoto Toyohina, Edo period
Located in Segovia, ES
geisha (entertainer) who performed narrative ballads accompanied by the shamisen. She was one of several
Category

2010s Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Crayon, Paper, Oil Crayon, Graphite

'A Very Funny Story, Mongols' — Mid-Century Woodblock Print
By Paul Jacoulet
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
took dancing lessons and studied gidayu (narrative chanting to the accompaniment of shamisen), at which
Category

1940s Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

People Also Browsed

Ceiling of the Paris Opera House
By Marc Chagall
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Ceiling of the Paris Opera House The value is in the beautiful framing. Please note the shipping cost as the piece is very large (frame is 47" x 47"). In 1960, the Minister of ...
Category

20th Century Romantic Used Shamisen

Materials

Ink, Paper

Japanese Showa Four Panel Screen Rustic Lakeside Village
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Serene Japanese 20th century Showa period four-panel byobu screen featuring a rustic lakeside village with distant mountains. Painted in the Nihonga School style with ink and color p...
Category

20th Century Japanese Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Silk, Wood, Paper

Japanese Style Four Panel Screen Spring Birds Singing
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Attractive Japanese style folding four panel byobu screen from the late Showa period. The screen is titled friendly birds singing in spring and signed by an artist with a cyclical da...
Category

20th Century Chinese Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Brass

Japanese Prints by Gabriele Fahr-Becker Taschen 1999
By Angelika Taschen
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Japanese Prints by Gabriele Fahr-Becker. The major section of the book consists of the 139 reproductions, grouped by artist, each accompanied by a detailed, sensitive commentary. St...
Category

Late 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Used Shamisen

Materials

Paper

1868 Map of the Upper Part of the Island of Manhattan Above 86th Street
By Wm. Rogers Mfg. Co.
Located in San Francisco, CA
This wonderful piece of New York City history is over 150 years old. It depicts 86th street and above. It was lithographed by WC Rogers and company. It was made to show what was the ...
Category

1860s American American Colonial Used Shamisen

Materials

Paper

Japanese Asian Signed Large Four-Panel Byobu Screen Bamboo Cherry Blossoms Birds
Located in Studio City, CA
A gorgeous large/tall four-panel Japanese Byobu folding screen depicting a nature scene/landscape with playful yellow and orange birds frolicking in nature among the branches of a bl...
Category

20th Century Japanese Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Silk

Kuwana Station - Woodcut after Utagawa Hiroshige -1920s
By Utagawa Hiroshige
Located in Roma, IT
Kuwana Station is an original modern artwork realized after Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 12 October 1858) in 1920s. Original woodcut print oban yokoe. After the famous Tokaido series, ...
Category

1920s Modern Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Chinese Export Porcelain Pronk La Dame au Parasol Plate
Located in Downingtown, PA
Chinese Export Porcelain Pronk La Dame au Parasol Plate Circa 1740 This Chinese Export Porcelain Plate, Circa 1740, is decorated after a design by Cornelis Pronk, depicting an Orien...
Category

1740s Chinese Chinese Export Used Shamisen

Materials

Porcelain

Japanese Style Four Panel Screen Bamboo Waterfall with Magpies
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Large Chinese four panel Japanese style byobu folding screen depicting a waterfall landscape. The scene is decorated with bamboo, colorful blue magpies, and crashing waves. Construct...
Category

20th Century Chinese Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Brass

Geo C. Shreve & Co. a Finely Chased Six Piece Sterling Silver Tea and Coffee Set
By Shreve & Co.
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very finely chased sterling silver six piece tea and coffee service by Geo C. Shreve & Co. Each finely embellished silver piece chased with floral and scrolled decorations. Compris...
Category

1920s American Rococo Revival Used Shamisen

Materials

Sterling Silver

Yoshitoshi Woodblock Print "Katada Bay Moon" 100 Views of the Moon
By Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Located in Portland, OR
This is aa original Yoshitoshi print of a Japanese Meiji era ukiyo-e (woodblock print) titled "Katada Bay Moon" c. 1888 by the great Japanese artist Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839 to 1892...
Category

Late 19th Century Japanese Used Shamisen

Materials

Paper

Army Poker
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This work is part of our exhibition - America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1940s Army Poker, c. 1943, probably tempera on board, signed upper right, 16 x 20 inches, inscribed ver...
Category

1940s American Realist Used Shamisen

Materials

Oil, Board, Tempera

Army Poker
Army Poker
H 16 in W 20 in D 1 in
Antique Japanese Bird Branch Berry Watercolor Hanging Scroll Signed Painting 53"
Located in Dayton, OH
Antique Japanese watercolor painting on paper showing a small green bird perched on the branch of a tree tipped with red berries. Signed along left hand side. Mounted on a green and ...
Category

Early 20th Century Japonisme Used Shamisen

Materials

Silk, Paint, Paper

"River Landscape" Julian Alden Weir, American Impressionist, Connecticut Scene
By Julian Alden Weir
Located in New York, NY
Julian Alden Weir River Landscape Signed lower left Watercolor on paper 9 x 11 1/2 inches Provenance: Kraushaar Galleries, New York Sotheby's Parke Bernet, New York, 1965, Lot 27 E....
Category

Late 19th Century American Impressionist Used Shamisen

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Red Card
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
"Yellow Card" is a thought-provoking artwork created by Ogunniyi Oluwatosin, a Nigerian artist who uses her art to explore social issues. The artwork features a woman with her eyes c...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Used Shamisen

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic

Korean Two-Panel Silk Screen from 1975
Located in Lomita, CA
This authentic two-panel Korean screen is from the 20th Century and is highlighted with the design of two painted silk screen panels over a light gold matte background. This screen d...
Category

20th Century Korean Other Used Shamisen

Materials

Silk

Recent Sales

Japanese Plectrum Musical Picks
Located in Seattle, WA
Japanese hardwood plectrum (bachi) for a shamisen. The shamisen is a traditional three stringed
Category

1930s Japanese Used Shamisen

Materials

Wood

Japanese Salt and Pepper Shakers
Located in Cookeville, TN
Offering this pair of Japanese salt and pepper shakers. Made to look like a Shamisen these tiny
Category

20th Century Japanese Chinese Export Used Shamisen

Materials

Sterling Silver

Used Japanese Salt and Pepper Shakers
Japanese Salt and Pepper Shakers
H 0.5 in W 3 in D 0.25 in
Yoshitoshi, Ukiyo-e, Thirty-two Manners and Customs, Beauty, Shamisen, Enjoyment
By Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Located in London, GB
in the mid-19th century, practices her shamisen, a traditional Japanese instrument similar to a
Category

Late 19th Century Other Art Style Used Shamisen

Materials

Handmade Paper, Mulberry Paper, Washi Paper, Pigment, Woodcut

Pair of Austrian Cold Painted Bronze Japanese Figures Shamisen and Geisha
Located in Big Flats, NY
Pair of antique Austrian cold painted bronze Japanese figures depicting musician shamisen player
Category

Early 20th Century Austrian Used Shamisen

Materials

Bronze

Large Pair of Japanese Bronze Musician Sculptures Meiji Period
Located in Lambertville, NJ
A pair of male and female Japanese Meiji period figures of musicians playing a shamisen with finely
Category

1880s Asian Meiji Used Shamisen

Materials

Bronze

Framed 19th Century Japanese Woodblock - Three Songs
Located in Corsham, GB
the shamisen. The artist's signature and seal can be seen to the lower edge. Well-presented in a
Category

19th Century Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Pair of 1950s Japanese Sanshin Lithographs
Located in Garnerville, NY
three stringed instruments called Sanshin or Shamisen. Matted, glazed and framed in simple gilded wood
Category

1950s Japanese Japonisme Used Shamisen

Materials

Cherry

Nagara Pleasure Quarter, Kanazawa
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Burbank, CA
. Somehow the gurgling of the water and the sensuous sounds of the shamisen are full of sorrow. The low
Category

1920s Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Handmade Paper, Woodcut

Moon-Viewing Point from 100 Famous Views of Edo
By Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige)
Located in Burbank, CA
shamisen. The silhouette at left is that of a courtesan preparing for bed with an unseen customer. Henry
Category

1850s Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Mulberry Paper, Woodcut

Japan Antique Geisha Bijin Photo Album of Beauties Album 1890, 26 Photographs
Located in South Burlington, VT
in Military dress and flag + Geisha playing shamisen string instrument Original paper covered
Category

Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Used Shamisen

Materials

Paper

Beauties Picnicking Beneath Cherry Blossoms Triptych
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Burbank, CA
her child picking herbs. Behind them is a restaurant with a woman playing a shamisen in an upper room
Category

1840s Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Mulberry Paper, Woodcut

Reading Beauty and Stretching Cat
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Burbank, CA
, who reads and plays the shamisen, which is leaned against the wall behind her. On the wall a number of
Category

1820s Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Mulberry Paper, Woodcut

Zataku by Saburo Inui for Tendo Mokko, 1960s
By Saburo Inui
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
toward the bottom, just like the "bachi" of a shamisen. The form of the legs that bends and swells inside
Category

1960s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Used Shamisen

Materials

Teak

Zataku by Saburo Inui for Tendo Mokko, 1960s
Zataku by Saburo Inui for Tendo Mokko, 1960s
H 13.39 in W 47.64 in D 29.93 in
Sterling Silver Shamisen Japanese Guitar Pin / Brooch
Located in Washington Depot, CT
Vintage sterling silver pin shaped as a shamisen Japanese guitar. Features a large oval cabochon
Category

20th Century Used Shamisen

Materials

Sterling Silver

Geinjie - Woodcut by Utagawa Kunisada - 1857
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Roma, IT
palace, a youg courtier sits in front of the eailing of a veranda, listening to a koto and shamisen
Category

19th Century Modern Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

A Downpour at Metalanim, Ponape, East Carolines
By Paul Jacoulet
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
accompaniment of shamisen), at which he attained almost professional-level proficiency. Under Terukata Ikeda
Category

1930s Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Snowy Night 'Korea'
By Paul Jacoulet
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
took dancing lessons and studied gidayu (narrative chanting to the accompaniment of shamisen), at which
Category

1930s Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

In the Private Palace Gardens; Seoul, Korea
By Paul Jacoulet
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
took dancing lessons and studied gidayu (narrative chanting to the accompaniment of shamisen), at which
Category

1940s Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Après la Danse, “Celebes” (After the Dance, “Celebes”)
By Paul Jacoulet
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
accompaniment of shamisen), at which he attained almost professional-level proficiency. "Under Terukata Ikeda
Category

1940s Showa Used Shamisen

Materials

Woodcut

Satsuma, Tea Caddy, Meiji Period, Antique Japanese Porcelain, Japanese Ceramics
By Satsuma
Located in London, GB
shamisen player is accompanied by joyful dancers; some cover their faces with their fans as young boys look
Category

Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Used Shamisen

Materials

Ceramic, Porcelain

Utamaro I Kitagawa Ukiyo-E Japanese Woodblock Print 18th Century, Shamisen
By Kitagawa Utamaro 1
Located in London, GB
the shamisen under the bloom of cherry blossoms. The three stringed lute known as the shamisen was
Category

Late 18th Century Japanese Edo Used Shamisen

Materials

Paper

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Used Shamisen For Sale on 1stDibs

On 1stDibs, you can find the most appropriate used shamisen for your needs in our varied inventory. Finding the perfect used shamisen may mean sifting through those created during different time periods — you can find an early version that dates to the 19th Century and a newer variation that were made as recently as the 21st Century. On 1stDibs, the right used shamisen is waiting for you and the choices span a range of colors that includes beige, black and brown. There have been many interesting used shamisen examples over the years, but those made by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) and Paul Jacoulet are often thought to be among the most thought-provoking. Artworks like these of any era or style can make for thoughtful decor in any space, but a selection from our variety of those made in woodcut print, paper and crayon can add an especially memorable touch.

How Much is a Used Shamisen?

A used shamisen can differ in price owing to various characteristics — the average selling price for items in our inventory is $2,075, while the lowest priced sells for $608 and the highest can go for as much as $10,000.