18th Century Tribal Art

Good Japanese lacquered wood Vase, Beautiful and elegant example wood with lacquer and gold gilt, with floral motives and Japanese script Measur...

A Polynesian hardwood Ula tavatava or throwing war club Fiji, probably 18th century The top of the shaft decorated with a dotted pattern all around (possibly kill marks). Measures: Height. 44 cm Including museum-quality powder-coated stand. Provenance: Private collection, France Polynesian culture is traditionally a culture of power and prestige, and there was a fine line between battle and ceremony. Warrior people par excellence, the Fijians had at their disposal a large panoply of weapons, each for a specific use. The elegant Gata are called gun-sticks by Europeans due to the recognizable form. However, they are designed after a snake, gata in Fijian language. The Ula throwing clubs...

A Polynesian hardwood Totokia, war club or battle hammer Fiji, probably 18th century or earlier Measures: Height. 83 cm Including museum-quality powder-coated stand. Provenance: Private collection, France The curve in the Totokia club, used for obvious reasons, is made by carving into a living branch and bending it, closing the gaps, which will grow together again over the years. Weapons carried by the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine in George Lucas' Star Wars were inspired by the Totokia. Polynesian culture is traditionally a culture of power and prestige, and there was a fine line between battle and ceremony. Warrior people par excellence, the Fijians had at their disposal a large panoply of weapons, each for a specific use. The elegant Gata are called gun-sticks by Europeans due to the recognizable form. However, they are designed after a snake, gata in Fijian language. The Ula throwing clubs...

A Tibetan-Chinese bronze brass 'Monk's Cap' Ewer, Sengmaohu, Circa 18/19th century A fine handsome vessel of tapering baluster form surmounted by a ‘monk’s cap’ rim, with copper ...

Superb Japanese lacquered wood Buddha, Circa 18th / 19th century Asian antiques ???? Beautiful and elegant example wood with lacquer and gold gilt, the Buddha seated in the meditati...

Edo Period burl wood candlestick, Japan A beautiful naturally twisted root or vine wood candlestick set in an octagonal base and having a rectangular iron...

Antique 18th century Islamic Safavid period ottoman Persian Islamic iron stirrups, circa 1700. The stirrups made of russet iron and having gold alloy i...

This is a very early and delicate wooden puppet head. It could be Chinese but that's just a guess. I'll say it's late 1700s but could be a lot earlier. T...

A magnificent Society Islands adze blade. Cut from fine-grained black basalt, the blade is triangular in cross-section and is smoothly polished on all sides. The tang, where the blad...

A Classic Marquesas Islands war club, or U'u, with uncommonly short shaft and lug at base, composed with all the iconic features that make these weapons icons of Oceanic art. U'u wer...

This beautiful Ethiopian cross, exquisitely carved from a single piece of wood around the year 1700, would have been held aloft during ritual procession...

China, a hand carved and hand painted wood group of three (3) Taoist Trinity figures: The Three Pure Ones. Measurements: 36 inches high and 14 inches wide and 10 inches deep each, Age: mid-late Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century. Background: Coming from an old Cheng-du private collection and originally ensconced in a Taoist temple, these sculptures feature original polychrome colors including remnants of old gold gilding, prayer/offering niches reverse and serene facial features. Condition commensurate and appropriate with their centuries of age. A rare find. Provenance: Acquired from an old Chinese collection, Chengdu China 2005. Catalog Reference: Schneible Fine Arts “35 Years Collecting 35 Treasures”, Number 21, p. 48 (see photos) History of The Three Pure Ones: The Three Pure Ones (Chinese: 三清; pinyin: Sānqīng) also translated as the Three Pure Pellucid Ones, the Three Pristine Ones, the Three Divine Teachers, the Three Clarities, or the Three Purities are the Taoist Trinity, the three highest Gods in the Taoist pantheon. They are regarded as pure manifestation of the Tao and the origin of all sentient beings. From the Taoist Classic Tao Te Ching, it was held that "The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three. Each of the Three Pure Ones represents both a deity and a heaven. Yuanshi tianzun rules the first heaven, Yu-Qing, which is found in the Jade Mountain...