18th Century and Earlier Ephemera

Circa 1780/1810 Canton/ China for export to Europe Large bedspread or hanging in sky-blue chiné satin silk embroidered with polychrome mercerized satin silk thread and couched stitc...

Late 16th - early 17th century Italy Rare and precious complete Italian chasuble (back and front) dating from the end of the 16th century. Rich curly and chiseled cut velvet in a sh...

Circa 1780 France Precious and rare quilted Indian woodblock quilt dating from the Louis XVI period. Manufacture unidentified but possibly from the Indian basin Alsace, Germany, Sw...

Circa 1780/1810 China for Export in Europe/Portugal Large bedspread or hanging in cream satin embroidered with polychrome mercerized silk threads. Large orderly and architecturally ...

This rare antique Edo-period (1615-1868) Japanese handmade inro is a curved lozenge-shaped hand-dyed woven-silk hard carrying-case container sheath that features intricate embroidery with rock-crystal or glass beadwork and thin leather-wrapped thread appliques. For its "Kimono Style" exhibition, TheMet museum noted: "the dying, weaving, and embroidery techniques for which Japan is famed reached their peak of artistic sophistication during the Edo period." On the burgundy finely-braided silk obijime cord that suspends the inro hang adjustable ojime fasteners of glazed earthenware, which are hand-painted with underglaze and overglaze enamels. The imagery includes signature-like branches, mountains, and a pine tree. Each knotted end of the cord dangles from the bottom of the inro with two rice-paper tubular beads. We could not find any Japanese beads...