An attractive and very rare large tankard, Germany, Cologne area, dating to the 16th. century.

The tall brown saltglazed stoneware tankard, decorated with three historical emperors and great generals, namely Karl the Great, Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great with floral and figural spacers in between. Pewter lid.

Size: 29 cm. tall.

Condition: F-VF, affordable since it's partly restored and with some repainting to cover the connection of the shards...

A lovely and extremely rare type of Westerwald vessel with handle, Germany, c. late 16th.-early 17th. century.

The vessel decorated with fine gothic looking lions and rossettes as spacers with manganese blue.

Size: c. 22 cm. wide incl the handle and 14,3 cm tall.

Condition: Nice Very fine for the early type, completely intact but for a closed crack with short hairlines, just below the handle to the right. Never repaired and very stable and sound.

Ex...

A very unusual basket made of pine cones bound together on edge enclosed in the original wooden box dated New Years of Showa Six (1931) titled Chiyo no Matsukasa (Cones of the Ancient Pine). The basket is 20 cm (8 inches) diameter, 33.5 cm (13-1/4 inches) tall and comes with the original bamboo insert. It is in overall fine condition. I have never seen another like it.

Chinese Qing / 19th Century Blue & White Porcelain Dish - Shou & Crabs

This porcelain dish was made during the 19th century and, according to the old paper label stuck to its reverse, was found in the Philippines. We are sure this is accurate as this type of dish is found around south-east Asia so was very likely made for export...

Japanese 19th Century Blue & White Porcelain Dish (with mark)

This porcelain dish is heavily-potted and attractively decorated in underglaze blue. The central design features a bird standing on a rock overlooking a mountainous landscape. Surrounding this, and to the underside, are village buildings within a mountainous landscape, viewed from a "bird's eye" perspective...

Large Chinese Ming Dynasty Blue & White Porcelain Dish - Binh Thuan Shipwreck - Ex. Christie's

This blue & white "Swatow" porcelain dish was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is coated in a thick crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue that, unusually, due to firing conditions, has fired to a colour more like black than blue...

Large Chinese Ming Dynasty Blue & White Porcelain Dish - Binh Thuan Shipwreck

This blue & white "Swatow" porcelain dish was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is coated in a thick crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue of very good colour. The decoration is the "double phoenix" pattern, two phoenixes standing facing each other, presumably male and female, surrounded by foliage and peony blossoms...

Fine Large Chinese Ming Dynasty Blue & White Porcelain Dish

This blue & white "Swatow" porcelain dish, or shallow bowl, was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is coated in a thick glaze and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. The decoration features a pheasant in a garden. The inner wall is undecorated and around the flat rim there are six roundels containing floral patterns surrounded by a repeating diaper pattern...

Cloth with katazome (stencil-resist dye) which is hand spun and vegetable indigo and pigment dye. In good condition, however slightly colors faded. 19th century. W:32.5cm, L:180cm

A massive and very rare key from a large iron strongbox or bank box, probably Germany, c. later 16th. century AD.

Probably made in German with a complicated bit and very large size.

We've added a picture of a larger male hand holding the key to show the proportions of the piece.

Lenght: 17 cm. and the bow is around 8 cm. wide. The weight is stunning 476 grams.

Condition: Good very fine, fine metal with a thick and stable iron patina.

Ex...

A very nice and elaborate iron key of the Venethian openwork style, fitting for a casket or jewelry box, Venice, 15th.-16th. century.

An interesting version of this type with a complicated iron cut bow with an octagonal web motif and a spendid finial for a key-ring at the top. Nice piece with remnants of copper inlays in the bow and stem.

Size: 98 mm. long.

Ex. Danish Collection of keys.

A rare type of iron key from box or cabinet very, European c. later 16th. century.

An interesting key with a disc shaped decoration on the bow and complicated stem and bit.

Size: 92 mm. long.

Condition: Nice VF, good metal.

Ex. Danish Collection of keys.

A rare folding key, probably British, and late 18th/19th. century.

This type of key is of course a 'must have' for serious Key and Lock collectors and quite difficult to find on the market.

Size: 196 mm. when opened and 113 mm. closed, making it a very large key of the type.

Condition: Good Very fine, excellent metal with minor rust and black patina.

Reff...

A very beautiful late renaissance to early Baroque door lock plate, probably german or Northern Europe, c. late 16th.-early 17th. century.

Fine openwork style iron wrought and cut and nicely etched with floral decorations.

Size: 24,5 cm. long.

Ex. Danish Collection of keys.

Cotton kimono (yukata) with shibori design which was ordered matching for local people at the festival. Probably from Amagi in Fukuoka in Kyushu. Late 19th to early 20th century. In excellent condition. W:124cm, L:138cm

A striking image of an itinerant monk carrying his few earthly possessions though the cedar forest in draped in a mino straw-raincoat and hat, all performed with colored thread in silk embroidery...

A very fine and elegant Chinese octagonal lacquer and Pewter TEA CADDY, 19th Century, depicting various figures in a Palace Setting. Overall in good condition with minor inconsequential signs of use due to the considerable age. Size: L. 16 cm. (6 1/4").

A nice large/thick faience Ushabti, Third Intermediate Period, 21/22th dynasty (ca 1085-713BC)

A blue-green faience shabti, wearing the headband and two hoes. Inscribed with clear hieroglyphs at the lower front. Details are added in black.

Size: 128 mm. tall.

Condition: Near very fine, intact but with hairline reattached feet and some minor losses and corrosion with much uncleaned deposits.

Ex. Cristian Spinu Collection, Ex. Timeline Originals UK, with...

Reddish limestone. Animal battle scene with crossing bulls and crescent moon standard, worshippers in between. A larger seal in an attractive red-orange stone. Isin-Larsa period, Old Babylonian, ca. 2002-1594 BC.

Height 26 mm and diameter is 13 cm., so fairly thick.

Condition: Very fine, smooth wear but intact with a nice patina.

Provenance: The Karl Müller collection, Germany 1950-1977. Comes with COA and his imprint.

A delicate kiri-wood tray decorated with a fledgling among grass puffed up against the cold by important 20th century artist Domoto Insho enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kosuzume Seifu (Small Sparrow, Pure Wind) and signed inside Insho Saku. It is 19 x 19 x 2.5 cm (7-1/2 x 7-1/2 x 1 inch) and is in excellent condition.

A striking baluster from vase decorated with sinister crows hunched in the silhouette of a leafless winter tree signed on the base Satsuma Kinunzan and dated on side the fifth month of 1911. This fits in perfect with our Kwaidan theme this month, the brooding figures austere against the bleak winter sky, something ominous, a lingering threat. It comes enclosed in a wooden box with a long inscription inside the lid which appears to state it was received from the master of the Satsuma Kinunzan stu...

Excessively rare and superb condition bronze and iron key, European, Early renaissance, 14th.-15th. century (c.1380-1450).

Very interesting heavy bronze bow of a Gothic design and the stem and bit made of iron. A very complicated bit of an S-shape.

The key was probably from a money box or jewellery box, due to the complicated bit and heavy design.

Size: 11 cm. - a large and heavy key for the period.

Condition: Extremely fine, lovely metal.

...

An unusual mask with gaping jaws and flattened features covered in red and black lacquer with golden teeth and eyes dated a lucky day in the 6th month of Tenmei 2 (1782). The mask is of carved wood covered in cloth over which has been applied layers of colored lacquer, gold and gofun (powdered shell) to form the white eyebrows. It is quite unusual in configuration. Most masks are open at the back, however this is carved with curling hair all the way down to the neck. Two holes in the teeth we...

As one of the rarest keys in the present collection, we're selling, here's a full size early gate key in an extraordinary condition, European, 14th. century.

Beautiful key with a Gothic fire-welded three-pass flute, a long straight and hollow stem, folded and hammered, and two slots in the rectangular bit.

The decoration of Gothic iron locks and keys was often elaborate and of the highest standard of workmanship. The motifs were frequently drawn from Gothic architecture, r...

Chogappo made of fragments of choma (ramie), one of bast fibers, which is recycled from vegetable indigo dyed choma, and it has beautiful nuance of different indigo colors. Pojagi is the general name for the wrapping cloth and "chogappo" is one kind of pojagi which is patchworked with asa (choma or hemp) fragments. (Reference source: "Korean Embroidery and Wrapping Cloths from the Choson Dynasty" published by Japan Art & Culture Association in 1995). Both warps and wefts are hand-plied for all f...

A fine condition bronze key of the typical Roman design, c. 1st.-3rd. century AD.

Size: 63-64 mm. long.

Condition: Extremely fine, superb with even green patina.

Ex. Important old Danish collection of keys.

Cherry blossoms. Painted with ink and pigments on silk. Signed Eitai and sealed.

Ito Eitai (1876-?) was a Japanese painter born in Nagasaki prefecture in Japan. He was a disciple of Migita Toshihide (1863-1925), Murase Gyokuden, and Kawabata Gyokusho. He specialized in portrait paintings, landscape paintings, and bird and flower paintings.

Some insignificant light marks are present on the painting itself, otherwise the painting and mounting are in fine condition. The piece is mounte...

An attractive hard burnt terracotta plaque of female deity, probably Ishtar, with tall headdress and fine gown, babylonian, 2nd. mill. BC.

The godess is decorated with wedge-like decoration on her breasts and lower part of gown. On the back inscribed with 4 columns of Cuneiform, untranslated by us.

Size: c. 13 cm.

Condition: Very fine, intact with repaired hairline cracks runing though the middle and at the feets. Wonderful patina with old dings, flaws from t...

Finely engraved and dated pewter stein or stob / Germany, made in 1708 (touchmark inside lid).

An early form of Stob without the pronounced stand-ring and with an interesting central engraving of a man hitting a fruit tree with a staff and a female beneath picking up the fruit that falls down into a basket; on either side a floral vase; above the German inscription, ''Wúnscht dein der freude an, seinen kindern erlebt''Later initialized and dated by new owners to 1806, so nearly a 10...