Gaston Suisse Furniture

With slightly domed removable lid opening to an open interior, conforming case with central gilded samurai family crest or Mon depicting a butterfly. Brass trim and handles. Richards...

Miniature tea house with a crane and bamboo motif in black and gold takamaki-e lacquer on a rankaku (eggshell inlay) base. It has several compartments and trays on the roof, walls an...

Japanese six-panel screen: waterfall and cherry in Audubon landscape, Edo period painting, 18th century, depicting summer and spring. A Kano Schoo...

Artist: Clementine Hunter (1886-1988) Medium: Oil Paint on Board Date: c. 1965 Movement/Style: Outsider Art Dimensions: 17.5" x 13.5" Additional Notes: This original Clementine Hunter painting...

Rivers of mist, falling water and moss draped trees evolve into a mystical landscape. Ink on silk, bordered in fine mulberry paper. Sold as a pair.

A Japanese Nagasaki export lacquer box with mother-of-pearl depiction of the Amsterdam ‘Trippenhuis’ Edo-period, circa 1830 H. 12.5 x W. 24...

A highly important Japanese export lacquer cabinet with depiction of the Dutch East India Company tradepost Deshima and the annual Dutch delegation on its way to the Shogun in Edo Edo period, circa 1660-1680 H. 88 x W. 100.5 x D. 54 cm This cabinet includes a later European japanned stand, but also a modern powder-coated steel frame. The latter can be designed and added to your specific needs. The sides and front of the rectangular two-door cabinet are embellished in gold and silver hiramaki-e and takamaki-e on a black roiro lacquer ground with a continuous design. The two doors depict a long procession of numerous figures travelling on foot and horseback along buildings and a pagoda into a mountainous landscape. This is the annual court journey, Hofreis, of the Dutch from Nagasaki to the Shogun’s court in Edo. Three horseback riders are dressed as Dutch merchants and a fourth figure, probably het Opperhoofd, is seen inside a palanquin, norimon. Just about to cross the bridge, two men are carrying a cabinet like the present one. Many Japanese figures on either side of the procession are engaged in various activities; some play musical instruments on board of small boats, others are fishing; figures inside buildings are depicted playing go, and farmers are tending to their rice paddocks. The upper part of the right door shows a large mansion, probably the local daimyo’s castle, with men kneeling before a man in the central courtyard. The court journey fits in with the foreign policy of the shogunate which accorded a role to the VOC alongside China, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands who also had to pay tribute. However, the VOC employees were traders, having low status in Japan’s social hierarchy, and they were received with less deference than were the state embassies from Korea and the Ryukyu Islands. Nevertheless, the contacts with the Dutch were a welcome source of information to the Shogun about Europe and European science and technology. The left side of the cabinet depicts, in mirror image, a rare view of the artificial fan-shaped Deshima Island, the trading post for the Dutch in Japan. The island, where the Dutch flag flies, is surrounded by small Japanese boats and an anchored three-masted fluyt (cargo ship), flying Dutch flags, with on the stern the VOC monogram. On the bottom right a busy street of Nagasaki is shown, bordered by shops and leading up to the stone bridge. On the island the trees are beautifully painted, two cows can be seen, and the flagpole, all in very fine detail. Dutchmen and enslaved Malay are visible outside the buildings and two Japanese figures, probably guards, sit in a small hut in the centre. A maximum of fifteen to twenty Dutchmen lived on the island at any time and soldiers or women were not allowed. Restrictions on Deshima were tight, and the merchants were only allowed to leave the island by special permission. The Opperhoofd had to be replaced every year, and each new Opperhoofd had to make a court journey to pay tribute, present gifts, and to obtain permission to Margaret Barclay eep on trading. In the distance, many birds fly above the hills and a four-story pagoda can be seen. The right side of the cabinet is painted with other horse riders and their retinue journeying through mountains. The pair of doors to the front open to reveal ten rectangular drawers. The drawers are decorated with scenes of birds in flight and landscapes with trees and plants. The reverse of the left door with two thatched buildings, one with a ladder, underneath a camelia tree with large blooms; the right door with a three-story pagoda nestled among trees and both doors with a flying phoenix, ho-oo bird. The cabinet, with elaborately engraved gilt copper mounts, hinges, lock plates and brass handles, is raised on an 18th-century English japanned wood stand. A pair of large cabinets...

The detail of this mountainous landscape of an area that is akin to the Alps in Japan is stunning. It is a watercolor and ink depiction of Senjojiki Cirque which is at the top of the...

Small kobako in natural wood made of a circular cross section, lacquered using both the maki-e technique and a transparent finish that grant a glossy finish to the bark. The composit...

The 'ishime' lacquered case consisting of two conforming molded sections with one sliding overtop the other, both sides decorated with hand painted gilt, silver & burnt dark russet (kasshoku) lacquers, depicting motifs in low relief of a rat with an acorn on one side and two acorns on the opposing. In Japanese culture rats are considered auspicious symbols of fertility & wealth, acorns symbolize prosperity & growth. Signed with characters and a mon on one edge. Takamaki-e is a lacquer technique in which metallic powders such as silver, gold, copper, pewter etc., are used in combination with lacquer & clay-dust to build up motifs in low relief. Please note that the color tones & hues of the lacquered motifs appear somewhat more vibrant in the images due to ambient lighting conditions. Regarding the opinion stating the superior quality of this fine example being likened to works associated with those by Shibata...

A fine Japanese lacquer Takamakura Geisha pillow, first half of the 20th century. Depicting Shi-Shi Lion between peony and rock in gold, silver, red and ...

Nice little black lacquer box from Japan. It is made of black lacquered wood and decorated with flowers and foliage. The inside is covered with red velvet. It is ideal for storing je...