TRIBA Asian Art and Furniture

Antique Thai Buddhist Temple Gable Panel. The teak triangular shape featuring a carving of a seated Buddha on a lotus style plinth, depicted with legs crossed in the virasana positio...

Antique Burmese Buddhist Decorative Backboard Mandorla Panel. A style of surround for a seated Buddha image reminiscent of a Burmese transom in shape. The peaked triangular panel in...

This rare antique 1920s embroidered silk Tibetan Thangka depicts images seldom seen of the greatly radicalized ones radiating divine love. The bottom left depicts Dzambhala, the Budd...

Wood carving of Vishnu on peacock with two attendants from South India Early to mid-20th century.

Dated from the 1920s, painted paper on silk brocade. This Thangka depicts Dharmpala, one of the three ancient treasure protectors of Buddhist teaching, this one being named Rahula. It's lineage is from the Nyugna school of Tibetan buddhism. Rahula is related to the eclipse of the sun, moon and other planets. Ruhala is portrayed with the lower body of the coiled serpent and upper body with four arms, nine heads adorned with a thousand eyes representing the nine planets...

Antique Gilt-Carved Red and Black Lacquer Javanese Ceremonial Circumcision Chair. A low teak chair carved having cabriole legs, claw feet, skirt detail in a tendril floral relief, so...

Rare antique Thangka tapestry from around 1950. Depicting Siddhartha Guatama in the Pureland when he became Buddha and his Dharma name became Shakyamu...

Court Uniform for Imperial Appointee, c. 1887. Wool with gold brocade. Court and military uniforms in emulation of European ensembles were officially adopted by the Japanese gover...

Khmer Ceramic Lime Pot. A squat globular stoneware jarlet with a high shoulder in the form of a bird covered in a brown glaze stopping short of the elevated foot displaying the beig...

apanese Oribe style ceramic Abura-zara, an oil plate used to catch the drippings from a suspended oil dish in a lantern, simple flat circular form with slightly raised beaded edge an...

Japanese Bizen ware bunrin chaire by Toho Kimura. A ceramic powdered tea container for the Japanese tea ceremony. The globular body delicately potted and mottled with ash adhesions,...

Antique Thai Ceramic White War Elephant. A hand sculpted stoneware figure of elephant and rider. The solid elephant stands firmly four square on a rec...

19th Century Stoneware Cat Pillow, China A charming antique stoneware cat pillow from China, cream background with classic brown spots. In great conditi...

A Spinach Jade Snuff Bottle, Qing Dynasty. The flattened ovoid form symmetrically rendered from a waxy spinach green speckled nephrite stone having a high shoulder and short stout round neck, with the countersunk mouth having a narrow aperture. The flat narrow base concave bearing a carved 3 character studio mark. The stopper of coral and vinyl collar attached to a cork with evidence of a previous ivory spoon...

Antique Thai Vessantara Jataka Scene Painting on Cloth, Rattanakosin School, 19th Century. A classical scene from chapter 12 in the next-to-last life of the Buddha wherein Vessantara...

Vintage Chinese Rosewood and Glass Display Case. A wall mounted or table top display case with hinged glass door, frame of light colored rosewood, interior with 18 individual shelve...

Vintage Pernakan Kain Panjang Batik Tulis, Cirebon, Java 1950. A fine hand drawn wax resist painting by canting on cotton of a traditional Java north coast Pernakan zig-zag pattern w...

Vintage Indonesian Kemben Batik Tulis (Breast cloth), Jogja (Yogyakarta), Java 1970. This kemben batik has a hand-drawn design on cotton by wax resist canting. The traditional ceremo...

Vintage Burmese Kammavaca Manuscript Chest. A rectangular wooden hinged lid box painted red with gold leaf shwe zawa gold leaf decorations of foliate...

Pair of Large Japanese Ceramic Shi-Shi Dogs roof tiles, Bizen kiln, 20th c. Bizen kiln is one of the oldest and well known kilns in Japan. This is a very unusual pose of Shi-Shi Do...

Two Section Mizuya (Kichen) tansu, Meiji period. Handmade with Japanese hinoki (cypress), sugi (cedar) and zelkova (keyaki) wood with handforged metal handles. Top section has four ...

Cooking Vat Cover Japan Early 20th century Cryptomeria (Japanese Cedar) ...

Tobacco Water Pipe with Set of Complete Accessories China Late 19th/early 20th century White metal (baiting), copper decoration, silk cording and tassel H: 22 in :: 56 cm Water pipe...

Large Red Offering Tray, Burma Late 19th/early 20th century Bamboo, lacquer ...

The Inro is comprised of three stacked compartments and features a deer motif with mother of pearl accents, an ojime and a wooden frog netsuke. Inros were used to store items like m...

Large Red Offering Bowl Burma Late 19th/early 20th century Bamboo, lacquer D: 31 in x H: 7.5 in :: 78.7 cm x 19 cm Traditionally used to bring offerings to an altar, and to present ...

Vintage Indonesian Kain Panjang and Matching Selendang Batik Tulis, Cirebon, Java 1960. A fine hand drawn wax resist painting by canting on cotton of a traditional flora and fauna pa...

Cast with a globular top with a central aperture on both sides, pierced with radiating petals to one side, supported on a tall spreading foot of rectangular section cast with raised ...

A ruyi (Chinese: 如意; pinyin: Rúyì; lit. 'as desired', 'as [you] wish') is a Chinese curved decorative object that serves as either a ceremonial scepter in Chinese Buddhism or a talis...

Vintage Savunese Ikat Sarong (Ei), a tubular warp ikat cotton ankle length garment with two large wide decorative bands with five large abstract (Hubi Ae) floral motifs in reserve on...

Vintage Sumba Slendang Shoulder Cloth/Scarf with Animal Design. Indigo and morinda root dyed cotton warp handwoven in a mirror image design depicting an ark of animal pairs including...

Chinese ink rubbing printing depicting Panthaka Arhat, no.4 of the 16 arhat images immortalized in stone at the former stupa at Shengyin Temple. Depicted here sitting on a rock with a book in his left hand and snapping his fingers in his right hand, symbolic of the speed at which he obtained enlightenment, accompanied by a beggar’s bowl and an incense burner, complete with colophons and silk scroll mounting. The Emperor Qianlong ordered the stone stele to be carved in 1764 after the arhat designs painted by the famed artist Guanxiu (832-912). Even though the temple was destroyed in the Taiping rebellion, the steles remain and have been reinstalled at the Hangzhou Stele Forest. Condition: Creases from rolling, otherwise fine condition. Mounting: 58” x 22”. 19th Century. Ex Collection: Frank “Till” & Peggy Durdin, San Diego. For other rubbings of this stele see: Penn Museum, object number 2010-26-4 The Metropolitan Museum of Art AN#: 59.195.15 Fine Arts Library of Harvard University, record id: W280021_urn-3:FHCL:478850 For another example of this image rendered in jade and lacquer see: “Screen Paintings of Guanxiu’s Sixteen Arhats in the Collection of the Palace Museum” Luo Wehhua translated by Bruce Doar, Orientations, September 2010, p. 104. In this article the image is identified as the sixteenth arhat Abheda, It is explained in this article that Qianlong re-identified the arhats, thus the 16th Arhat attribution for this image. Also in this article the identical colophon by Qianlong above the image is translated as: “These accurate portraits of the Sixteen Arhats were created by the Tang Dynasty painter Guanxiu, as recorded in Xuanhe Huapu (Record of paintings in the Xuanhe Reign), and during the millennium from the Guangming reign period to the present day, the original works were to be found in Zhejiang, where they were housed in the collection of Shengyin Temple in Qiantang (Huangzhou). In spring of the dingchou year (1757) of his reign, the Qianlong emperor undertook a southern tour of inspection and stayed at an imperial lodge on the West Lake. He went to the temple to pay his respects and there he saw the arhats on display and wrote a description of these marvels. The sequence of the arhats and their names had been passed down since ancient times, but they did not correspond to their Sanskrit titles; the sequence of the arhat names conformed instead to the interpretation of the Sanskrit classics by the Zhangjia State Preceptor. The emperor penned the original names and positions in the sequence below each of the figures in accordance with the readings supplied in Tongwen Yuntong (Unified Rhymes), and below each he penned an encomium, which he signed. Then the images were returned to the collection, to be passed down as a perpetual treasure. Now, the fourth great arhat had long gone missing and we did not know where his painting was. But it was merely a trifling matter of matching the images with the names, and now surely we have found him! This I, the emperor, believe.” All 16 of these rubbings can be found in the Rubel Chinese Rubbings Collection at the Fine Arts Library of Harvard University with the following descriptive historical note: “Rubbing from stele depicting No. 4 of 16 arhats (Lohans, Buddhist saints) -- Nan ti mi duo luo qing you, Panthaka Arhat. Original painting attributed to Guanxiu, 832-912. Inscriptions written by Hongli, Emperor Qianlong (Gaozong, 1711-1799) of Qing Dynasty. 7 seals of Qianlong follow the inscriptions. Script style: in xing shu. Shi liu zun zhe -- "The 16 noble ones" are 16 lohans. Lohans are also called "a-lo-han" based on the transliteration of the Sanskrit term "arhat." (Japanese: Rakan; Chinese: Lohan; Tibetan: Gnas-brtan). Arhats or Arahants are saints or sages said to have renounced nirvana (freedom from the cycle of suffering and rebirth), vowed to remain in the world to protect the Dharma and propagate the Law of the Buddha in order to devote themselves more effectively to the relief of human misery, like the Bodhisattvas. These 16 Arhats, personal disciples distinguished by the Buddha, formed part of the 500 claimed by tradition to have attended the First Council in Rajagrha. The names and abodes of these 16 arhats are given in a work entitled "Record on the Duration of the Law, spoken by the Great arhat Nadimitra," which was translated into Chinese by the famous pilgrim Xuanzang (596-664) in 654. 16 lohans are quite often represented, especially in China and Japan, in sculpture and painting, in poses and with attributes. Every lohan can be easily with special icongraphic characteristics. Guanxiu (Jiang Deyin or Deyuan, a Buddhist monk also named Master Chan Yue, 832-912) -- painter during late Tang to Five Dynasties, specialized in painting lohan figures. Legend has it that the first portraits of the 18 Lohans...

Traditional Silk Shaman’s Shoulder Cloth, Tai Daeng, Houaphanh Province, Laos. This is a man/woman healing cloth or shaman’s shawl, so named as the center se...

Korean inlaid celadon oil bottle, squat globular shape with narrow neck and mouth having an impressed rope pattern revealed in white slip , on the shoul...

Antique Japanese Lacquered Wood Temple Stand. An open panel style rectangular table with black lacquered top, lacquered and gold leafed base having chased gilt metal side fittings, ...

20th Century Hollow Abstract Iron Sculpture, Japan This heavy hollow iron sculpture by an unknown Japanese metalsmith is a knockout from every angle. It measure 9 inches high by 9 i...

Vintage Hand Dyed Cotton Batik Slendang (Selendang), Java. A length of cotton fabric used as a shoulder cloth, hand dyed in three colors of rust brown, indigo and a dark blue painted...

Vintage Hand Dyed Cotton Batik Slendang (Selendang), Java. A length of cotton fabric used as a shoulder cloth, hand dyed in two colors: red and blue painted over a wax resist design,...

Vintage Japanese Obi. Gold kinran abstract wave pattern on a diagonal white on white brocade ground, continuous on one side, center section lined on the reverse side. Minor signs of...

Balinese Traditional Painting, acrylics on canvas by W. Erawati. The scene depicts a dense composition of village life just outside of a temple on a festival day with the numerous fi...

A fine bronze tribute drum (Heger Type III), Pazi (Burmese), pam klo’ (Karen). This unique lost wax casting of a drum is ornamented with 8 frogs with bulging eyes placed in stacks o...

An irregular shaped slice of Dalbergia root burl with a dark center and blonde surround, all figured with multiple “bird’s eyes” and knobby live edge, supported by four short and cur...

Two bronze rectangular boxes decorated with symmetrical silver inlay in the tendril vine pattern referred to as “the okir pattern”, a traditional design for the Maranao people. This...

A Chrysanthemum and Bush Clover painting on gold leaf six-panel folding screen, painted with clusters of leafy green chrysanthemum plants with white blossoms having moriage relief petals of gofun growing amidst pink blossoming bush clover within a bunched bush clover garden fence rendered in lighter gold relief, all on a background entirely of rich gold leaf. These two flowers are symbolic of Japan and the autumn season. The classic patterned paper verso with a Naga Antiques...

Japanese Rosoku-tate or Shokudai (candle stand) a lathe turned wood in a slender baluster form with attached concave circular base and broad circular wood candle base tapering down ...

Antique Chinese Agate Master Snuff Bottle, 19th century. Larger scale bottle of pale translucent color with varied caramel inclusions, symmetrical rectangu...

Annamese Blue and White Ceramic Box, Chu Dau kiln, Vietnam, circa 1500. A covered flat top circular box with lid decoration in under glaze cobalt blue of a peony blossom with leafy b...

Antique Chinese Chalcedony “Peanut and Jujube” Snuff Bottle, Qing Dynasty. The large pear shaped striated stone carving of a caramel colored jujube fruit (Chinese date) and two beige...

Antique Thai White Elephant Painting on Cloth, Rattanakosin School, 19th Century. A painted scene of two white auspicious elephants in a landscape setting. In Thai Buddhist folklore,...

Late 19th to early 20th century Trio of puppets, China Two puppet torsos and one puppet head from China, all mounted on custom bases. The heights are 16, 9 and 13.5 inches (40.6, 23...

Vintage Indonesian Kain Batik Tulis, Solo (Surakarta), Java, 1950. A traditional meticulously hand drawn wax resist painting by canting on cotton of a spirited phoenix pattern inters...

Vintage Indonesian Kain Batik Tulis, Jogja (Yogyakarta) , Java, 1970. A traditional hand drawn wax resist painting by canting on cotton of a classic ceplok pattern of repetitive rows...

Antique Thai Buddhist Temple Gable Panel. The teak triangular shape featuring a carving of a seated Buddha on a lotus plinth, depicted with legs crossed in the virasana position wit...

Vietnamese Three-colour Ware Ceramic Lime Pot, Chu Dao Kiln, 17th century. Created for slaked lime, a component for the social practice of chewing “Betelnut”, globular form resembling an areca nut with round aperture at the shoulder and decorative overhead handle stylized in such a way that it could be interpreted as a dragon with tablets with four legs and feet adhering to the shoulder or a stem branch with tendrils terminating in raised short spikes and molded oblong shapes resembling bunches of areca nut, all covered in a crackled transparent glaze with copper green on the handle, sturdy foot rim decorated by a band of iron oxide brown where the body meets the foot, the base is unglazed. Lime residue, otherwise excellent condition. 6-1/4 in. high x 4 in. in diameter. (159 x 101mm) 2 lbs. (900g.) 17th century. For similar example see: Ha Thuc Can and Nguyen Bich, “Discovery of the Chu Dau...

Hongō Toshihiko bronze vase with lotus bud form, slightly bulbous having a narrower base. The relief design is of overlapping lotus petals and a verdigris finish on the yellow bronze...

Antique ceramic covered box from the Sawankhalok kilns, Thailand of paneled globular form with a brown glazed flat top having incised bands around ...

Antique Palembang Man's Songket and Ikat Ceremonial Head Cloth (iket kepala). A woven silk textile with natural dyes, weft ikat pattern, gold thread supplementary weft weave as the b...

Antique Thai Fish Bowl, Sukhothai Kilns. A deep stoneware bowl with black slip painting of a fish with his tail extending beyond the concentric band on center, further band decoratio...

“Kiku Byobu”, a six-panel chrysanthemum folding screen, Rinpa School, Meiji Period (1869-1912). Painted with several variations of white moriage chrysanthemums interspersed with sma...

Pair of Japanese wood Shokudai with chrysanthemum shaped base, brass prickets and gold leaf Shokudai or candlesticks are prevalent in homes and temples during the Meiji period and w...