The generic name for the Neolithic culture that created these vessels is Yangshao (3000-1500 B.C.). One of the major features of the Yangshao people was their painted pottery, none of which was turned on a potter's wheel. These types of pots appears to have been used for mortuary purposes. They consist of fine-grained clay with painted designs in black, red, maroon and brown.

This pot is a particularly dynamic example of this type of pottery...

This fine bowl measures 6 1/2"diameter at the top - 3"diameter at the base - and is 2 3/4"high at the rim. It has a lovely design of a rugged landscape with mountains in the far background and trees growing from a rock knoll in the forefront. There is a flowered design on both the inside and outside rims - peonies surrounded by geometric designs.

The sides have more designs of mountain ranges and two boats in lakes. On the low footed base there is a Fuku mark - Good Luck...

This pretty vase measures 5"high by 2 5/8"diameter at the shoulder - the top is 1"diameter and the base is 1 1/4"diameter. The pink and silver tulips are done in the gin-bari technique - with vivid green leaves highlighting the flowers. The flowers are done of a dark black ground with very tight cloisons. This is indicative of the dating to the early to mid Meiji period, circa 1980s. At that time, cloisonné artists had not yet mastered the art of large areas of the design in a pure solid color...

This is a small bowl measuring 5 7/8"diameter at the top - 3 5/8"diameter at the base of the foot - and 1 7/8"high at the rim. It has an under glaze blue design of a lake scene with a boat out on the lake and the lake surrounded by rugged hills. There is a low horizontal building on the lowest hill - rather like a pavilion.

The bowl has a brown edge to the ruffled rim...

This wonderful Japanese Satsuma Koro - incense burner - has four mons of the Tokugawa clan done in the highly prized gosu blue enamel - (See footnotes.) Three of the mons are on the sides and one is in the center of the top of the koro. They are all executed in overglaze blue enamel. These mons are surrounded by underglaze olive brown colored karakusa vines. There are two fake raised rings on the sides of the koro...

This remarkable bamboo crane has the entire length of the cane carved with a large variety of figures. The top is a whorl that shows fine patina and an old leather carrying loop. The cane’s wonderful deep brown patina has led us to date the cane to the late Meiji period, circa 1880s-1910. The cane is intricately carved down the entire length of the piece. The carvings include (starting from the top) - A Hannya Mask– A Samurai – The Head of Hotei – A Peasant Woman - and an unknown mask...

This is a fine old Chinese bronze Seal - personal chop. It is a roughly cast figure of a Lion Dog (Fo). It measures 1 3/4" tall x 1" wide x 1" deep. There are remnants of the sealing wax in the characters on the base that make up the signature. We have not had the signature translated. We believe this piece dates from the 18th to 19th Century, Qing Dynasty.

This handsome koro (incense burner) has an intricate design of a procession winding around the globular body. The procession starts in the lower part of the koro and winds its way upwards. In the procession we can count over 50 individual attendants - flag carriers and a man on horseback. About halfway up one can see a palanquin or sedan chair - called a Kago in Japanese. (see footnote). The sedan chair must have held a person of some importance to rate such a large retinue...

This is a masterful bronze casting of a Kylin - one of the most famous of Japanese and Chinese mythical creatures. It has wonderful detail to the scales, horns, tail and head of the kylin. The piece measures 3 1/2"long by 4 1/8"high by 2" wide. It is in excellent condition with fine patina and signs of early verdi-gris already beginning to show in small crevices. We date the piece to the late Edo to early Meiji period, circa 1850-1875...

A Japanese blue and white charger with an interesting design in underglaze cobalt blue. The design has a central motif of stylized waves – then there are three cranes in a setting of brush or pine branches or possible marsh grasses – and three cross hatched items that could be baskets. The next band has three distant mountains and finally the edge has a wavy design in solid blue with a fluted border done in a darker blue. Each of the cranes has its own individuality – one with its neck rai...