Japanese Wood Netsuke with a Wasp in a Pear, Nagoya School, 19th Century

Large wood netsuke of a shishi Kyoto school, 18th/19th century Height: 5.7cm The large netsuke with a very nice patina, showing the mythical creatu...

The Amitabha (Amida in Japanese) Buddha is shown standing with his hands forming the Amida raigo-in mudra. The face has a serene expression, with closed eyes under delicately arched brows and a severe face. The hair is arranged in rows of coils that also cover the "ushnisha", the protuberance on the head. The drapery is folded in elegant pleats falling from the shoulders to the feet. The antique sculpture is placed on a lotus flower which is located on a richly decorated base. Faith in Amida Buddha remained largely confined to a small segment of the Japanese population until the Kamakura Era (1185-1333) when it was popularized by new Pure Land sects committed to bringing Buddhism to the illiterate commoner. These sects expressed concern for the salvation of the ordinary person and stressed pure and simple faith over complicated rites and doctrines. Amida Nyorai...

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...

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...

Early 19th century Japanese wood noh mask, This mask comes in its original kiri wood storage box, which is signed and dated: Koran, 1811 (Edo period). The box...

An unusual Japanese carved wood, lacquer, and gilt decorated portrait sculpture of a shogun, Edo Period, early 19th century, Japan. The unidentified shogun (possibly Tokugawa Iey...

Very old solid wood statue depicts the Taoist Zen Master. He wears typical Tao robe and hat, with two fingers pointing up, and the left hand on his knee. Su...

Antique bronze sculptures of puppies playing. Traces of gold on both, one holding tassels in its mouth. Measurements: 3 1/2" h x 6 1/2" w x 3 3/4" d and 4 1/4" h x 5 1/2" w x 3 3/4" d

A beautiful 19th century Buddhist baby monk head, hand carved wood depicting the baby looking forward gracefully with like Mona Lisa kind smile?. Exceptional...

A finely signed Japanese carved large cockerel with an impressive plume of tail feathers standing over his family consisting of a hen and baby chicks as they pick at the ground searc...