Japanese Bronze and Mixed Metal Shakudo Covered Box Mount Fuji View Meiji Period

Japanese mixed metal and bronze Meiji period finely cast and inlaid vase of an eagle in a tree. Marked for Nogawa workshop and signed by maker on the side.

Japanese Meiji period fine pair of scroll weights decorated with shakudo and silver samurai figures. The weights fill solid and heavy. One of the weights has Japanese writing ( see i...

Japanese silver repousse vase finely decorated with blown out iris flowers. It is of the Meiji period, circa 1890s. The vase is 5 1/4" tall and weighs 4....

Japanese silver and enamel Incense Burner (Koro) Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th century. The koro is set on tripod feet, The body decorated with three panels of birds and flowers w...

A fine Japanese cloisonne hinged box with pheasant and autumn foliage, by Inaba Nanaho and the Inaba Cloisonne Company, Meiji period, circa 1900, ...

A fine antique 20th century Japanese Amita Damascene Steel Box. Made of damascened steel inlaid with gold & silver. The lid of the box has gilt depictions of bamboo plants, while the sides of the boxes have similar depictions of river plants and birds. The interior of the box is fully gilt, and the lid’s interior is decorated with an embossed depiction of a Japanese doll of a girl in kimono amongst branches, leaves, and flowers. Marked to the bottom of the box for ‘W.E. Knox’ and with a Shimazu Mon...

A fine antique Japanese bronze vase. From the Meiji Period. With copper and silver floral and vine and butterfly inlay as well a kanji symbol to the neck (possibly a stylized f...

A ruyi-shaped Shakudo-style erotic tobacco or snuff box, relief-decorated with silvered applied figures Possibly Jakarta (Batavia), first half 18th century Measures: H. 2.2 x L. 12.1 x W. 8 cm This box is very much in the Dutch taste, for the illustration is after a print with a legend reading “L’oiseau sans cage. Prenez, belle, mon oiseau. C’est le plus doux présent que je puisse vous faire. Pour les autres oiseaux, la cage d’ordinaire est une espèce de tombeau. Mais le mien semble prendre une nouvelle vie, Lorsqu’il sera dans la cage de mon aimable Silvie.” The erotic message is as clear as can be. In Dutch culture the verb ‘vogelen’ (catching a bird) is another word for having sex and a bird escaping from his cage indicates loss of chastity. The lady with the bare breasts, while making the sign of sealed lips to the lady behind her, who is pointing towards heaven, seems to be caressing the bird held in the sleeping man’s groin. 17th century Dutch pictures...