Antique Double Sided Japanese Ranma Transom Panels - a Pair

20th c., Showa period gouache and gold leaf Japanese screen. Depicting plum tree blossoms on a riverbank across 6 panels. Plum blossoms are often mentioned in Japanese poetry as a symbol of spring...

Late 19th/Early 20th c., large Japanese Meiji bronze floor urn. The principal decoration on both sides of the vase is rendered in beautiful and strong relief. One side depicts birds, possibly skylarks, in flight and on flowering cherry blossom branches. The opposite side depicts herons wading and alighting on a flowering tree. the upper and lower portions of urn are decorated with repeating arched lozenges detailed with scrolls and flora. The urn is adorned with foo dog handles, unmarked. This is an impressive and beautiful bronze urn. In bronze-working, Meiji period craftsmen were newly empowered to attempt distinctive, innovative, and complex pieces. Makers were influenced less by the West than by China, which had had a relationship with Japan stretching back thousands of years, far further than Japan’s recent association with Western powers. Artistry in bronze-work reached new heights in the Meiji period, as a number of metalworking schools developed, creating intricate pieces including vases, sculptures...