260 Year Old Japanese Hanging Scroll with Painting of the 9-Headed Dragon Deity

A striking low and wide two-panel furosaki’byôbu (tea-ceremony room divider) painted with two bright white dragons (ryû) flying amidst swirling black clouds. The left dragon holds a ...

Beautiful, large two-panel byôbu (room divider) with a serene painting of red-leaved bamboo and rocks on an oxidized silver leaf background. Silver leaf continuously undergoes the process of oxidation, which creates a beautiful aged patina. On the left an inscription from a ‘Zekku’ poem by the Chinese poet Yang Zai (1271?1323), titled: Shan shang zhu (bamboo (painted) on a fan). Translated as : Why would people plant a lot of bamboos? The shade of a single culm is also beautiful. In the autumn night it rocks on the wind, And the fresh sound echoes in my dream. Dated: Shôwa, the year kôshin (1938). Signature unknown...

Japanese large six-panel byôbu (room divider) with a rare painting of a large white elephant with a monkey on its shoulder, standing under a Paulownia tree (kiri) in bloom. The Paulownia is considered in Japanese symbolism as the tree of life. The elephant has been painted on purpose in a "non fitting" manner - partly going beyond the frame to underline the size of this impressive and important animal. The combination of the elephant and a monkey painted...

A very beautiful large six-panel byôbu (room-divider) with a refined polychrome painting on paper of a pine tree (matsu) and two cranes (tsuru). In Japanese culture, the pine tree i...

A charming medium-size six-panel byôbu (folding screen) with a vibrant polychrome painting of a rooster with its family amidst a luscious flower garden. The garden is filled with al...

A pair of exquisite, large six-panel byôbu (room divider) featuring paintings in black ink of the iconic pairing of a tiger (tora) and a dragon (ryû). The screen on the left shows a...

Two Japanese scroll painting depicts scenes from the Tale of Genji (Genji-E), from Edo period. These painting were purchased from Odewara Shoten in the...

Amaranth and Rooster Artist unknown Hanging scroll, ink, mineral pigment and gofun on silk. Painting inscription: Tojo ?? Painting seal: Tojo ?? circa 1930 Dimensions: Scroll:...

A Japanese silk Suijaku hanging scroll beautifully presented in a custom wood shadow box frame from Edo period (circa 18-19th century). The scroll, surmounted on golden brocade was painted in fine details with gouache, ink and gold powder highlight, served as a Suijaku mandala for the worshippers. Honji Suijaku is a complicated religious concept uniquely developed in Japan. It mixed and hybrid the Buddism deities with native shinto spirits (known as Kami), which were seen as local manifestations (the suijaku, literally means a "trace") of Buddhist deities (the honji literally the original ground). The original idea may lie with the synergetic strategy to spread Buddism by making it more relatable to the local population who had already worshiped Shinto gods. The paradigm, adopted in the 10th century from an orignal Chinese concept, remained a defining feature of Japanese religious life up to the end of the Edo period (1868). Instead of being confined to deities, its application was often extended to historical figures as shown on this scroll. This long hanging scroll depicts an arrangement of 21 figures including Buddhism and Shinto deities as well as two historical figures on the bottom. Each figure was name-tagged in Kanji for easy identification by the worshippers. It was used in the temple or shrine so that when the worshipper prayed in front the mandala, they prayed simultaneously to all the deities. On the very top, sits Nyorai-Kojin, a hybrid deity of Nyorai Buddha and Kojin, the kaki for fire, stove and kitchen. From the top to bottom and left to right, here is the list of the deities: Kanon with Thousand Hands, Kanon with Willow Branch, Monju Bosatsu...

A fine matching pair of hanging scrolls ink on paper mounted in green brocade borders circa Edo period (17-18th century). The Kano school painting depicts wild geese in the reeds by the margin of water, a popular subject borrowed from the Chinese tradition. Both painting were signed as Tanyu with a red seal of Morinobu, his birth name. The storage box is also present and was inscribed with the title Painting of Geese and Reeds and Kano Tanyu...

This painting represents a man waiting under a dark tree. The composition is extremely simple but suggestive. The artist, with few elements, can, in fact, create a vivid and dynamic scene, based on the tension between the strong ink stain that renders the tree and the elegant figure of the man, dressed in an aristocratic robe. Painter and designer, Kamisaka Sekka...

This is a picture of a cat drawn by a person named "Toshizumi Nitta" from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period. She is a very simple and cute cat. He is a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate, born in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture (southern part of Gunma Prefecture). He was related to the Tokugawa family and lived in a large mansion in the Ota clan in Gunma prefecture. However, the Nitta family's territory was very small, and they were by no means a wealthy vassal. He seems to have lived quite poorly. So he painted cats and sold them to people. The Nitta family continued to draw pictures of this cat for four generations. "Nitta toshizumi" is equivalent to the fourth generation. During the Edo period, sericulture was thriving in the Kanto region. Cats were said to be the gods of silkworms, as they drive away mice, the natural enemies of silkworms. It was the Nitta family who drew such a cat on paper, pasted it in the silkworm chamber, and sold it as a mouse repellent. There were also other monks who painted pictures of cats, but the Nitta family in particular was related to the Tokugawa family, so people believed that paintings of cats had special powers. , a lot of paintings...