Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
MEIJI STYLE
From 1868 to 1912, Emperor Mutsuhito oversaw an era of transformation in Japan. Formerly a country of feudalism and isolation, Japan entered an age of modernization influenced by newly established trade and exchange with the West. The Meiji period, or period of “enlightened rule,” also saw the global impact of the East Asian country’s culture. Japanese Meiji furniture was exhibited at expositions from Paris to San Francisco and created for export.
Prior to the Meiji era, furniture was mostly made by commission for the ruling class; now there were new domestic and international markets. European styles like Japonisme appropriated Japanese design while craftsmen in places like Wales and England employed japanning, a varnishing technique that approximated the appearance of lacquer for the surfaces of furnishings.
Meiji furniture made for Japanese homes and buildings constructed in Western styles resulted in taller tables, chairs, cabinets with large drawers and other features. The government invested in areas such as transportation and communication, and because people could freely choose occupations after the restrictions of feudalism, industries of various types were energized by expressive new ideas during those years. Art schools were formed and, for the first time, design was an area of study in the country, leading to the evolution of professional design as a career by the 1890s.
The work of Japanese designers was transmitted widely through lavishly illustrated pattern books that included designs for screens and lacquerware for the home. While screens today may be of use as decorative accents or partitions to ensure privacy in one’s space, Japanese screens were adorned with paintings and were featured in performing arts such as concerts, tea ceremonies and more. The color illustrations that characterize Meiji woodblock prints, a genre of Japanese art that grew out of 17th-century developments in printing and book publishing, depicted the sweeping changes that the era brought to East Asia.
Although it was a time of societal and cultural shifts, a bolstered interest in art and design elevated Japanese craft traditions. From colorful porcelain table lamps with silk shades and hardwood tables decorated with dark lacquer to cabinets featuring iron hardware and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, Meiji furniture showcased Japan’s artistic heritage to the world.
Find a collection of antique Japanese Meiji period case pieces and storage cabinets, decorative objects, wall decorations and more furniture on 1stDibs.
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Style: Meiji
Japanese Theatre Mitsumekozo Theatre Mask Meiji Period, circa 1900
Located in Prahran, Victoria
Unusual Japanese Folk Art theatre mask depicting the playful character Mitsumekozo, a three eyed goblin often portrayed as a mischevious creature in comical plays, late Meiji period,...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
A Meiji Period Japanese Hand-Carved Wood Turtle or Tortoise Sculpture, signed
Located in New York, NY
A Meiji Period Japanese Hand-Carved Wood Turtle or Tortoise Sculpture. The entire object is carved from one solid large piece of hardwood. Hand-car...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Huge mouse lying down
Located in PARIS, FR
Huge sculpture of a mouse (or rat), with a rather dark patina, represented with a
schematic expression and realized with the hollow bronze technique. It is represented
in extension...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Antique Meiji Signed Japanese Figural Woman & Lantern Incense Burner with Base
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This large antique Meiji period Japanese patinated and polychromed bronze is signed by an unknown artist and presumed to have been made in approximately 1880 in the period Meiji styl...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Big mouse standing bronze
Located in PARIS, FR
Huge sculpture of a rat with a dark brown patina, its pose reinforces the schematic
treatment. Its simple head and hardly figured moustache, its smooth and plump
body and very deta...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Netsuke in the form of a snake in boxwood with inlaid eyes and signature
Located in PARIS, FR
Boxwood netsuke of a snake tangled on itself, each scale is carved with precision, and the overall brown patina is intense. Even though snakes are almost always bad omen in Asia, it ...
Category
Early 19th Century Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Boxwood
JAPAN 1890 Meiji Sculptural Polychromate Netsuke Of a Yamabushi
Located in Miami, FL
Japanese Meiji period netsuke. of a Yamabushi.
This is an exceedingly beautiful and intricate carved netsuke, created during the imperial Japan in the Meiji period, back in he 1890....
Category
1890s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bone
Japan, A rare Japanese Kutani figure of Kannon on a Foo Lion, Meiji Period, 19th
Located in PARIS, FR
Rare Japanese Kutani Figure: Unveiling Tranquility and Spiritual Power from Meiji Period Japan
Unveil a rare gem from Japan's historical Meiji ...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Porcelain
A set of three exquisite nineteenth century Japanese bronze sculptures of carp
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Three exquisite Japanese nineteenth-century bronze sculptures of carp.
The sculptures are in excellent state.
The set contains three different carp: A large one, a medium-sized one ...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Japanese Okimono sculpture of a Chinese cabbage or Pe-Tsai realised in Boxwood
Located in PARIS, FR
Okimono of a Chinese cabbage made in boxwood. The texture and veins have been delicately detailed.
Native from China, it is an herbaceous plant of the ...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Boxwood
Japanese Bronze Okimono Sculpture by Yamamoto Kozan
Located in Newark, England
YOUNG MAN WOOD CUTTING
From our Japanese collection, we are pleased to offer this Japanese Bronze Okimono by Yamamoto Kozan. The Japanese Bronze Sculpture cast in Bronze with a natu...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Large and Impressive Meiji Period Bronze Bison by Sano Takachika for the Kakuh
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
A large and impressive Meiji period bronze bison by Sano Takachika for the Kakuha Company, the animal powerfully modelled with his head low and turned s...
Category
Early 1900s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
JAPAN 1900 Meiji Carved Letter Opener With Sculpted Monkeys
Located in Miami, FL
Japanese Meiji period letter opener.
An exceptional letter opener, created during the imperial Japan in the Meiji period, back in he 1900. The letter opener has been carefully carve...
Category
Early 1900s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Gold Leaf
Japanese Bronze Pheasant Okimono Genryusai Seiya
Located in Newark, England
Unusual Casting of a Pheasant in Flight
From our Japanese collection, we are delighted to offer this Japanese bronze okimono of a Pheasant upon a naturalistic root wood base. The Ph...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
19th Century Meiji Period Bronze of a Boy Collecting Sweet Chestnuts by Seiya
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
A charming Meiji period bronze of a boy collecting sweet chestnuts by Seiya, he carries a basket and is looking down at an insect crawling over his hand, he is also evidently wearing...
Category
1880s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
19th Century Japanese Cockerel and Chicken
Located in London, GB
A fine quality set of two Meiji period Japanese cockerel and chicken.
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Japanese Antique Stone Statue Kappa 1860s-1900s / Figurine Wabi Sabi
Located in Chōsei District Nagara, JP
This is an old stone carved kappa statue made in Japan.
It was made during the Meiji period (1860s-1900s) and has a unique presence rooted in traditional Japanese culture.
Kappa are...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Stone
Japan Fine Bronze Seated Amidha Nyorai Buddha, 19thc.
Located in South Burlington, VT
Japan, an elegant and fine seated Amidha Nyorai Buddha with fingers clasped in a pensive "Dhyani" Mudra pose, a superb work of art cast in bronze. It dates to the 19th century Meiji...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze, Copper
Large And Impressive Meiji Period Bronze Bear, Signed
Located in Norwood, NJ
Large and impressive patinated bronze sculpture of a bear. As part of our Japanese works of art collection we are delighted to offer this magnificent high quality Meiji period Okimon...
Category
Early 1900s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Japanese White Glazed Hirado Ware Puppy, Edo/Meiji Period, Mid 19th Century
By Hirado
Located in Austin, TX
An absolutely adorable Japanese Hirado Mikawachi ware white glazed porcelain model of a puppy dog, Edo to Meiji period, early to mid 19th century, Japan.
The cute puppy is portray...
Category
Mid-19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Porcelain
Antique Japanese Kutani Pottery Bodhidharma or Daruma Figurine
Located in Philadelphia, PA
An fine, antique Japanese pottery Daruma figurine.
In the form of a Daruma, a depiction of Bodhidharma the semi-legendary founder of Zen/Chan Buddhism.
The figure's face and protruding toes are an unglazed dark brown and his robe has a dark red glaze.
Simply a charming Japanese figurine...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Pottery
Jizai Koi and Water Motif, Japan, Miji Period
Located in Point Richmond, CA
This jizai is an excellent example of a well-balanced and pleasingly carved sculpture of koi swimming in waves. Once part of a Japanese hanger (jizagake) for a kettle hook, it served...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Japanese antique penis-shaped wooden ornament/1868-1920/Folk belief
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This is an ornament based on the ancient Japanese folk belief of the prosperity of descendants.
In the past, when medical care was not as advanced as it is today, it was difficult t...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Cedar
A 19th Century Burl Root Wood Display Stand, Meiji Period (1868-1912)
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
A striking root-wood display stand comprised of a series of entwined organic elements with various gnarled appendages, rising to support a plateau with a burled & polished surface. M...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood, Burl
Old or Antique Japanese Wooden Figurine of a Buddhist Monk
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A Japanese wooden figurine of a Buddhist monk.
In the form of a seated Buddhist monk.
He holds a scroll in his left hand, and a mala/juzu (rosary) i...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Large Antique Japanese Bronze Eagle Root Wood Base Meiji Period Signed Gyoko 36"
By Gyoko
Located in London, GB
Japanese bronze Eagle modelled with its wings outstretched and head lowered,
All the feather work is finely carved with rich brown patination, p...
Category
1890s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
A Bronze Meiji Period Elephant Jardiniere
Located in London, GB
The richly patinated bronze surface is beautifully chased, clearly stamped to the underside of the base by the highly regarded foundry of Genryusai Seiya, a specialist in bronze obje...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Great Wood Carving Lion Figurine / 1868-1920 / Rare Item
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This looks like an old copperware, but it is a wood carving work.
It is glossy because it is finished with black lacquer.
It is a very delicate and beautiful sculpture.
The expression of the lion is cool.
Also, the sculpture on the tail is wonderful.
It is thought that it was carved on wood such as Japanese cypress.
The name of the engraver is also engraved.
The name "Kichitaro" is engraved.
I don't know the details of this person.
There are also small cracks and defects.
There is a loss in the lower part of his right ear and part of his tail.
And there are lacquer cracks and wood cracks.
This is an old one, so there is something like this.
Also, in the case of Japanese and Chinese lions, a ball is attached to the left hand, but this is missing.
However, it is a work that is quite impressive.
It is a rare item...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Old Wooden Netsuke Japanese Fruit Figure Meiji Period, 19/20th Century
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
Lovely and very detailed piece. Unsigned. Japan 19th or 20th century.
Weight: 15 grams
Provenance: Collected in the 1980’s. From the collection of Clemens Merkelbach van Enkhuize...
Category
20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Antique Japanese Meiji Period Painted Wood Sign with a Samurai, 19th Century
Located in Yonkers, NY
A Japanese carved and painted wooden sign with a Samurai from the Meiji Period, 19th century. This 19th century sign with a samurai was made in wood and painted in Japan during the Meiji period. The narrow rectangular panel features a painted frame with a character depicted in the upper section, showcasing a seated samurai wearing his armour. The section below is adorned with four lightly carved and back painted calligraphies. This tall panel can be hinged thanks to two square buckles on the top. Made during the 19th century, this antique Meiji period painted wood sign...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Japanese bronze of a Snail in a Naturalist Pose
Located in PARIS, FR
Bronze with a brown patina representing a snail with a very interesting pose. Its angular pose suggests that it could be exposed in such a way that he would mimic a real snail going ...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Japanese Erotic Otofuku Folk Art Carving, Late Meiji Period, circa 1900
Located in Prahran, Victoria
Rare and highly unusual Japanese Folk Art wood carving depicting the folk heroine and good luck figure Otafuku with a finely painted erotic design on the interior and a carved inscri...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Cypress
Netsuke in the form of a No mask representing the character of Obeshimi
Located in PARIS, FR
Wooden netsuke depicting the Obeshimi mask in Noh theater.
Obeshimi is a demon characterized by thick eyebrows, eyes that seem to protrude from the face and a closed mouth.
Signed ...
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Boxwood
Large Japanese Carved and Polychromed Wood Panel of Gourds and Lotus
Located in Essex, MA
Depicting two large melons with calligraphy surmounted with lotus and flower and dragonfly. Painted in golds, reds, blues and green.
Estate of John Volk, Pa...
Category
1850s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Other
Asian Sculpture / Okimono with Lion and Crows, Japan, Meiji Era, circa 1880
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
Rare and important Japanese sculpture / statue / okimono in blackened and carved wood, depicting 1 lion, 2 birds (crows or other birds of prey) and 1 snake held in the claws of one o...
Category
1880s Japanese Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
Scultura Bronzo Raffigurazione Arciere Periodo Meiji Firmata
By Saeki Yoshimitsu
Located in Milano, MI
Scultura Bronzo Raffigurazione Arciere periodo Meiji Firmata
Descrizione:
Scultura giapponese antica raffigurazione di arciere in bronzo realizzata...
Category
Late 19th Century Asian Antique Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Bronze
Meiji sculptures and carvings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Meiji sculptures and carvings for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the Late 20th Century, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage sculptures and carvings created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include asian art and furniture, decorative objects, building and garden elements and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, metal and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Meiji sculptures and carvings made in a specific country, there are Asia, East Asia, and Japan pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original sculptures and carvings, popular names associated with this style include Akasofu Gyôkkô, and Tosa Mitsuyoshi. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for sculptures and carvings differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $250 and tops out at $190,804 while the average work can sell for $1,850.