Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian (357)

Republic or a little later, black and red lacquered “Dou” offering stem bowl (usually fruit) for an ancestral altar table, with gilt garden and scholar’s theme. This from Guangdong and made for a Chaozhou family, aka Teo Chew, aka Chiu Chow. W: 21cm/8.2in and H: 13cm/5.1 in. There is some warpage, noted in enlargements but if just turn it the right way you won’t notice.

Pair lovely vintage bamboo brush pots circa 1960-1980 The surface has been stained a darker color but the patina is a hand polish with no varnish. Excellent condition, with no splits are cracks. H: 14.2cm/5.6in and D: 8.4cm/3.2in.

Lovely Cambodian lacquer betel box with decorative herring bone woven bamboo wall. Good condition, wear as to be expected with an old piece, but no damage. This was made Pre Khmer Rouge (before 1975). Although lacquer craft has been resurrected for decorative export pieces, artisanal made for domestic use are no longer produced due to its time consumption and the availability of cheap plastic. D: 23.5cm/9.2in and H: 9.8cm/4in.

Peach blossom, red and green mottled glazed bottle vase circa mid 20th century (a conservative dating) good condition. H: 16.5cm/6.5in and D: 11cm/4.2in.

Lovely hand silk embroidered alter “skirt” with the Eight Chinese Immortals and three double happiness roundels at the top. I recently acquired this with a group of other vintage textiles; this is in perfect condition with a lovely palate of colors. Late 20th century, this would have been hung in in front of a temple altar table’s legs. H: 100cm/40in x W: 94cm/37in. Appears never to have been used.

A pair of old Burmese jade cigarette holders, they stopped making these about 40 years ago, since they have went out of fashion. The white jade has holder (L: 12.2cm/4.9in) has a few scratches and the darker one (L: 6.2cm/2.4in) has naturally occurring inclusions.

Hand painted brush and ink Chinese painting, classically mounted on a scroll, depicting Bamboo and Rocks with apocryphal attribution to Zheng Xie鄭燮 This is a homage, painted in the 20th century, and is of an impressive size H: 165cm/64in and W: 68cm/24in. Mounted dimensions L: 2.4m/94in and W: 83cm/32.5in.

Pair of teak wood carvings from an abbot’s chair in a Lanna Thai Buddhist Temple. 50 years old or more, possibly late Rattanakosin period. In the center of each piece is a Buddha image- one standing and one sitting. Very decorative. Both mounted on a black steel stands with felt bottoms. H: 21cm/8.2in.

Quirky ceramic image of a boy and beast emulating lacquer and wood, circa late Qing Dynasty or Republic Period. This is the first time I have seen a ceramic glaze imitating lacquer (also note the bottom imitates wood). L: 10cm/4in and H: 7cm/2.8in. This has few small chips.

A collection of 10 kihks from Lanna, Thailand. All are hand carved from wood (except two which are carved from buffalo horn- noted in enlargements) and incised auspicious Khom script, from Lanna Thailand. Contrary to how I see these often advertised they, have little to do with attracting women, but are worn by on the side by men for luck and prosperity or used by women to ward odd “evil men” and attract money. It’s not uncommon that they be put in cash register...

Rare Zo/Tedem "tawnok"- reference "The Art of the Zo: Philadelphia Museum of Art". The Tedum aka Tiddim are a subgroup of the Chin, who live mostly in Northern Burma, Chin State, as well India, and Bangladesh. This piece is circa 1950-1960, spun from commercial, hand dyed cotton thread with some single faced supplementary and diamond twill patterns. Please see enlargements to appreciate the complexity of this weave...

Traditional brush and ink Chinese painting of birds done in the style of Jin Cheng 金城. This homage was done in the 20th century and is very attractively mounted a silk scroll. Jin Cheng travelled internationally and was a founding member of the influential Chinese Painting Research Society (Zhongguo huaxue yanjiuhui) that became later known as the Hu Society (Hu she). The writing at the top right is an apocryphal dedication- gifted to Yu Po 1907...

Very fine red lacquered saber (dao) scabbard fitting from the Nùng people Vietnam. They are well known for their sword making so it makes sense they would put the same effort into their accoutrements. This is an old semi antique piece circa 1950 excellent condition and intricate carving. L: 14cm/5.5in W: 5.9cm/2.3in and Thickness 2.4cm/1in.

Ensemble of seven small antique natural Burma Jade, circa Qing Dynasty “lucky charms", the green colors are original and will not fade. Scale is metric, see descriptions under enlargements. Free shipping.

Good Shiwan censer with beautiful and subtle white flambé moon white glaze circa late 19th or early 20th century - there is one hairline on the rim noted in enlargements. D: 15cm/5.8in and H: 9cm/3.5i

Beautiful, unopened, three paneled, semi antique, woman’s sarong from Flores Island (probably Ende), Indonesia. Circa 1950 +/-. All hand spun and woven cotton and natural dyes. Very soft and in perfect condition. The incorporation of indigo dyes is quite subtle giving it the depth. L: 142cm/56in and W: 158cm/60in. Free Shipping

Exquisite Chinese satin silk hand embroidered and hand sewn jacket and pleated skirt with drawstring waistband. Pristine condition, circa 1930s or 1940s, see last enlargement for reference. Jacket dimensions- sleeve to sleeve width at shoulder: 127cm/50in, length shoulder to bottom : 68cm/26in and width in the middle: 92cm/36in. Skirt length: 82cm/32in (not including fringe) and waist: 72cm/28in. Still very wearable!

Lovely traditional red silk satin child’s jacket with floral sprigs, circa first half 20th century, maybe even earlier. Excellent condition, except for the trim all hand embroidered and hand sewn. Old commercial trade cloth cotton lining. Would look good as a wall hanging. Width straight across shoulder 63cm/24.8in and H: 37cm/14.5in. Free shipping

Enigmatic and eclectic collection of 35 small repousse auspicious good luck tokens).These were collected in Dali, Yunnan, China in the late 1980s. No two are exactly alike and and are they seem to are classic Tantric Buddhism symbols such as endless knot, parasol, lotus throne, and temple banner motifs are represented in this lot as well as more traditional Chinese symbols such as bats and butterflies. These came from Yuxi Xingmeng, the last ethnic Mongolian village in Yunnan...

Good circa early 20th CE pair of miniature Lanna Northern Thai Buddhas. The small one on left is amulet sized (H: 5.2cm/2in) with traces of gold and black lacquer and the larger one is a small votive image (H: 7.2cm/2.8in). I believe these to be cast in zinc. Free shipping international shipping via Hong Kong Registered Airmail.

Collection of three vintage/antique cloth printing blocks from Tamil Nadu, carved from hard wood (probably Jackwood) all in excellent condition, acquired in India 30 years ago. Very decorative- may be hung on as a wall art ensemble. Large one: H: 26.3/10.4in x W: 16.4 cm/6.4in, round one D: 20.6 cm/10.2in and, small one H: 17.5/6.9in x W 8.3cm/3.2in.

Fine, old and rare Chang Naga, three paneled body “prestige” cloth with anthropomorphic cowry shell design. Made from very fine hand spun cotton weft and silk warp, the cowry shells have a fine toned aged patina. This is a genuinely old cloth circa 50 to 70 years old (not for the tourist market). This kind of cloth signifies the owner has given a series of feasts or in the past taken a head...

Very rare, Gulong Miao children’s jacket from Guizhou. This is a side opening style, made from all hand woven cloth (except for the inner sleeve lining) with hand embroidered anthropomorphic figures, on a calendared greenish cotton ground. This pattern was only used on children’s clothing from this Miao subgroup. Excellent condition. Width: 75cm/29.5in (sleeve tip to sleeve tip) Length: 39cm/15.3in (collar to bottom). Free shipping.

Rare and unique (one of a kind), antique large Thai “parang” or “machete”, general purpose bush knife which was used in cutting and splitting rattan and bamboo. The handle is made of old, and nowadays rare, Thai Rosewood: Dalbergia cochinchinensis which has a nice chatoyance to the grain (sort of looks like Huanghuali to me 降香黄檀). The cutting edge is still sharp and usable; there are a couple of splits which is secured by a metal band. L: 64cm/25.2in.

Magnificent large Northern Thailand red and black lacquer box with foliate and floral scroll pattern, circa late 19th to early 20th century, most likely produced at a Chiang Mai workshop. Very light weight original top and bottom, best example I’ve seen in over 20 years. There is craquelure as is typical from antique Southeast Lacquer and very small color and lacquer loss due to use, please examine close ups. D: 26cm/10.1in and H: 10cm/4in.

Good antique storage basket from the Bidayuh people of Sarawak. The lid is made from the skin of a sambar deer while the basket plaiting is rattan and the inside is lined with bark. I purchased this Kuching, Sarawak in 1988, and it was old at the time, so it's 38 years older now. There is a hole in the lid as well as some loss to the bark lining- please examine enlargements. H: 5ocm/19in and D: 35.5cm/14in.

Quirky image of Ganesh accompanied by four rats as devotees and musicians. This is from the last half of the 20th century- possibly a tribal image. For the most part most of the iconography and i.e., accoutrements, mudras and association of rats accompanying him are correct. I acquired this from an estate of long term Hong Kong resident, other than that I don’t have any other information other than this a very cool...

A pair of small “utility” knives made by Iban people of Sarawak, East Malaysia. These were frequently carried in the sheaths of their larger brothers, the Dayak mandau. The blades are hand forged, possibly scavenged steel from the leaf springs form an old car. Circa last half of the 20th century. The longer thinner knife has carved deer horn at one end (repaired see enlargement) . See enlargements to see details of the carvings. Both blades are sharp and serviceable...

Very fine, complete (both original inner trays included) betel box in excellent condition circa first half 20 the century. Composed of red, black and green lacquer depicting monkeys against an abstract foliate background. Some surface craquelure as to be expected on old lacquerware. D: 18.5cm/7.2in and H: 10.5cm/4.1in.

Exceptional semi antique, over 70 years old, two paneled Tai Daeng (Red Tai) blanket from Northern Laos with supplementary weft silk Chinese Shou longevity character medallions and key fret design. The last time I was in Vientiane (13 years ago) textiles of this quality are no longer to be found. There are two repairs noted in enlargements 2 & 3 as well as some minor weft design loss...

Set of Qing Dynasty silver repoussé Chinese child’s hat ornaments. Very sweet little collection of 5 Budai and a lions face. Budai H: 2.9cm/1.1in and W: 2cm/o.8in and lion face D: 4.4cm/1.7in. The lion face has missing enamel on one ear. Free shipping via Hong Kong Registered Airmail.

Exceptionally rare baby blanket from the Tujia weavers of Longshan County, Hunan Province, China. I have been looking for one of these for years and this is the first complete blanket I have ever found, albeit the lower two border panels come from a different piece. This incorporates the unique white tiger motif (see enlargement #3) which is believed to give the baby protection. For the Tujia the white Tiger is a totemic ancestor deity...

Beautiful old Zhuang minority textile from Guangxi Zhuang/Guizhou province, China...

Charming votive folk embroidery, from the Saurashtra area of Gujarat, made by the Kanbi farmers caste, circa 50/60 years old. The two ply field is woven from all hand spun rough cotton thread; hand dyed silk thread and small glass mirrors. Ganesh is flanked by two female consorts and his “vehicle” of mice beneath him. These are brought out during religious and auspicious festivals, he traditionally has been viewed as the remover obstacles. Excellent condition. W: 54cm/21.1in and H: 56cm/22in...

Lovely Qing Dynasty pendant of a monkey on a leaf, “staring at the moon”, carved from carnelian. An unusually fat piece with a rich dark color rarely seen in Chinese carnelian. L: 4.7cm/1.8in and W: 3.5cm/1.4in. There is one small chip on the back of the hole noted in 2nd enlargement. Included is an adjustable macramé cord, and free shipping via Hong Registered Airmail.

Very rare antique lacquer box from the Southern Shan States circa late 19th CE to early 20th CE. This a complete set (which is rare in itself these days). The pattern though simple is exquisitely detailed. Some craquelure on the surface, as is expected and few minor chips at the bottom of the lid. H 13.7cm/5.4in and D: 15.5cm/6.1in.