Japanese Noh Theatre Fan in Lacquered Wood and Painted Silk, 19th Century

The construction of this antique shodana is somehow different and richer than the traditional Japanese model: even if in fact there are the fundamental elements, which are a lower compartment closed by two sliding doors and three intermediate shelves, in this piece, there are many other closed parts, including two drawers. More, there are several lacquered parts decorated in superior-quality maki-e even in places that generally are left empty. Panels are painted with gold lacquer with landscapes from the Genji monogatari; handles reproduce a sho, a rare antique musical instrument...

Signed: “Kajikawa saku” and with a red pot seal Height: 3 1/8in (7.9cm) Provenance: Michael Tomkinson Collection Leonard Haber Collection Literature: Michael Tomkinson, A Japanese Collection, London: George Allen, 1898, no. 300 Each case with slightly recessed joints and with different grounds, including kinji, nashiji, togidashi maki-e and gyobu-nashiji, on the obverse decorated with a treasure ship laden with the attributes of the Seven Gods...

Urushi lacquer on stone Measures: 12.3 by 9.5 by 6.5 cm Tomizo Saratani was born in Kyoto and has spent his life working on traditional japa...

Antique Negoro lacquer wares were produced at the Negoro-ji temple complex in Izumi Province. The red layers of lacquer on Negoro wares are intended to ...

The scene is dominated by a plum tree in bloom under which a couple of paradise birds is courting. The screen is crossed by a luxuriant creek, a typical feature of the springtime.  

This pair of screens belongs to a genre of lyrical paintings of flowers, grasses, and other plants that flourished around the middle of the 17th century and became a specialty of the Sôtatsu studio. The use of a rather complex composition of clusters of flowers and the puddling of ink was initiated by Tawaraya Sôtatsu, the founder of the Rimpa School, who was active from 1600 until 1642. The screens are abstract and decorative but there is, at the same time, a keen sense of naturalism not only in the attention to accurate detail but in the profusion of vegetation. The passage of the year is symbolized by the variety of plants that bloom in different seasons. The tarashikomi - here used on leaves, petals and trunks - is a Classic Rinpa technique in which pale black ink or a color is brushed onto an area of a painting and then either darker ink, or the same or a contrasting color, is dropped into the first before it has completely dried, creating an effect of pooled colors with softly blurred edges. Its delicacy, preciousness, and effeminacy are identified with the over-refinement of its patrons, while the vigor, monochromatic discipline, sharp observation, and virile forms of the Kano school are a testament to the vitality of the rising warrior class. The plants are almost all identifiable: in the summer-spring part, you can find wheat, buttercups, irises, begonias, hydrangeas, coral bells...

19th century Chinese lacquered and giltwood frame fan with chinoiserie decoration double leaf depicting Chinese daily scenes, animals and flowers with origi...

A beautiful red lacquered, solid wood fragment painted with an opera scene of victory celebration, featuring various figures dressed in official uniforms and crowns. Remnant gold lea...

Japanese early Meiji period Noh theater mask made of carved wood with gofun layers. The piece was made in Japan in circa 1880 and is signed on the back. In great antique condition wi...

A 19th century Chinese box which most likely held a fan. Beautifully hand painted on the interior with an oriental saying on silk.

An exquisitely carved silver fan holder, India, late 19th century.

Inro in 19th century Japanese pine wood decorated with hen and rooster. Dimension 11 cm in length for 8 cm in height and 5 cm in depth in its center. Additional information: Mate...