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A 16TH/17TH CENTURY OTTOMAN TURKISH TINNED COPPER LIDDED BOWL, with swing handle and hooked latch, decorated with an engraved band of calligraphy and foliate motifs, 23.5cm diameter.

A FINE LARGE 17TH CENTURY PERSIAN SAFAVID COPPER BOWL, engraved with a band of calligraphy and foliate motifs, 26cm diameter.

A FINE LARGE 11TH/12TH CENTURY PERSIAN SELJUK CARVED MARBLE TILE, with Kufic calligraphy and arabesque decoration, 43cm x 22cm.

A RARE LARGE 16TH CENTURY MAMLUK TINNED COPPER CIRCULAR BOX, with engraved decoration of calligraphy and various motifs, 30.5cm diameter.

A FINE 19TH CENTURY OTTOMAN BONE AND MOTHER OF PEARL INLAID WOODEN QURAN STAND, with panels of calligraphy, 36.5cm (open).

THREE CONTEMPORARY CHINESE SCROLL PAINTINGS, including two floral designs and one calligraphy painting, (3).

A CHINESE PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE AND STOPPER, the body with calligraphy, the stopper inset with a stone, possibly agate, four-character mark to the base, 9cm high.

A CHINESE YIXING CYLINDRICAL BRUSH POT, with carved calligraphy, 15.5cm high.

A Ming Dynasty Wanli joss stick holder decorated with alternating panels of flowers with Chinese figures and calligraphy above13cm highGood condition

Chinese porcelain vase probably Republican period of quatrelobe form with four central red panels decorated with birds and flowers set in a background border of peaches and foliate scrolls the neck with the Zhou mark with foliate scrolls above, the base with a peach mark with gilt calligraphy, the vase seated on a carved wooden stand, vase 37cm high

A mixed lot of oriental items including Japanese sushi set, Chinese calligraphy set, Chinese chop stick set, a silk Chinese box, an antique Chinese tray, a Chinese tambourine and a Chinese parasol.

A Japanese watercolour on silk, depicting bird on flowering branch, with calligraphy, 40cm x 29cm.

With a 59cm curved and pointed blade inlaid with silver wire calligraphy amongst scrolling surrounds, the bronze 'eared' grip with further engraved decoration and foliate roundels, the leather and timber scabbard with extensive brass mounts and previous museum/collectors inventory number. 80cm overall. *CR: areas of rust and pitting to the blade, scabbard with signs of wear including loss of leather surface. *BP 22.5% (18.75% plus VAT) plus a lot fee of £8 inc. VAT on each lot.

Briefcase containing drawing sets and calligraphy items. Not available for in-house P&P

Full title: A Chinese engraved stone calligraphy tablet, dated and probably 1296Description:H 92 - L 52,7 cm (without the stand) H 103,2 - L 52,7 cm (with the stand) The absence of a condition report does not imply that a lot is in perfect condition. Please contact us to let us know which lots are of interest, so we can make the requested reports for you.Once complete, they will be published on our website.High resolution pictures are already available on our website at www.coronariauctions.com. Further questions are always welcome at info@coronariauctions.com

Soraya Sikander (Pakistani, B.1984)The Sea signed versoacrylic on canvas120.5 x 61cm (47 7/16 x 24in).Footnotes:ProvenanceThe Artists Collection.'The Sea' is a result of observation meeting memory. This piece is an interpretation of the Karachi sea; where the mangroves remind me of Arabic calligraphy alphabets. There is a gradual tonal contrast between the cool sky, changing to deeper blue near the horizon, and the sea itself, with its peaceful movement and gentle wave ripples as reflected in the artwork. My nature studies go deeper than appearances, suggesting memories, metaphor and heritage. This series has been hailed by art critics as redefining landscape painting, pushing boundaries extending overlapping seascapes with influences of calligraphy - its success lies in its ability to create a new genre of 'calligraphy landscape' painting, of which I am a pioneer, which has caught the imagination of the international art community. (Soraya Sikander, September 2022)For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Dame Barbara Hepworth (British, 1903-1975)Wave Forms (Atlantic) signed and dated 'Barbara Hepworth 1964' (lower right); further signed, titled and dated again 'Barbara Hepworth/Wave Forms (Atlantic) 1964' (verso)oil and pencil on board76.2 x 101.4 cm. (30 x 39 7/8 in.)Footnotes:ProvenanceWith Gimpel Fils, LondonDr Pierre TurquetWith Marlborough Gallery, LondonSale; Christie's, London, 10 November 1989, lot 379With Marlborough Fine Art, London, where acquired by the family of the present ownerPrivate Collection, U.K.ExhibitedLondon, Gimpel Fils, Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture and Drawings, June 1964, cat.no.49London, Marlborough Fine Art, Summer Exhibition, 1965, cat.no.25London, Tate Gallery, Barbara Hepworth, 3 April-19 May 1968, cat.no.218LiteratureAlan Bowness, Drawings from a Sculptor's Landscape, Cory, Adams & Mackay, London, 1966, cat.no.69 (col.ill.)Mervyn Levy, Drawing and Sculpture, Studio International, Volume 171, Number 873, January 1966, Cory, Adams & Mackay Limited, p.28 (ill.b&w)Abraham Marie Hammacher, Barbara Hepworth, Thames & Hudson, London, 1968, p.146, pl.123 (ill.)This painting is recorded as D484 in the catalogue compiled by Hepworth.Wave Forms (Atlantic) was created at a time when Hepworth was at the peak of her career. In 1964, her most important and famous commission was unveiled at the United Nations Secretariat in New York, the monumental sculpture Single Form. The following year, she was to be made a Dame Commander of the British Empire and also appointed a Trustee of the Tate Gallery, while exhibitions both at home and abroad further celebrated her work, with shows in London and New York, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The Cornish landscape continued to be an evergreen source of inspiration for her, the light, stone and sea informing so much of her work. Since first moving down to Cornwall in 1939 with Ben Nicholson and their triplets, and after several moves within Carbis Bay, in 1949 Hepworth bought Trewyn Studio in St Ives, where she lived from December 1950 until her death in 1975. Many of the paintings and drawings from 1960 onwards were made in Hepworth's Barnaloft studio flat, which had a view of Porthmeor Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. In Wave Forms (Atlantic), one feels the intimate relationship between artist and the elements and the close proximity of the two to one another. As a viewer, we are immersed in the composition which is dominated by the deep blue water as it churns and moves turbulently through the pictorial space, generating through its energy and power the frothy whiteness of the breaking surf. The force with which the water is crashing and our proximity to it is conveyed through the thicker spots of white pigment that occupy the area towards the top of the painting, indicative of spray. Further complex colour tones have been used to describe the scene and Hepworth herself wrote particularly poetically of how, 'the sea, a flat diminishing plane, held within itself the capacity to radiate an infinitude of blues, greys, greens and even pinks of strange hues' and how 'the incoming and receding tides made strange and wonderful calligraphy on the pale granite sand which sparkled with feldspar and mica' (Barbara Hepworth, Drawings From A Sculptor's Landscape, London, Cory Adams & Mackay, 1966, p.12). The medium of oil and pencil is one which Hepworth favoured and the contrast of strong, definite graphite over washes of colour something which she particularly enjoyed. In Wave Forms (Atlantic), we see the curving lines and shapes echoing and complimenting the rhythm of the sea. In this case the pencil has been rather subtly applied with the oil predominating but leaving a strong sense nonetheless of a sculptural impression on the surface. Hepworth has further worked into the surface of the board, largely apparent on the right-hand side of the composition, by scraping back to reveal the whiteness of the primed surface underneath, in turn echoing the light and rough, rocky surfaces of the coast. Drawings were for Hepworth a means of capturing new ideas for sculpture and, as she stated in Drawings from a Sculptor's Landscape in 1966, it was a life-affirming act. Hepworth wrote that, 'Whenever I am embraced by land and seascape, I draw ideas for new sculpture: new forms to touch and walk around, new people to embrace, with an exactitude of form that those without sight can hold and realize' (Ibid., p.11). Hepworth's important and large curved sculpture Sea Form (Atlantic) was conceived in 1964, the same year as the present work, with casts housed in the Dallas Museum of Art and the City of Norwich Museum.We are grateful to Dr Sophie Bowness for her kind assistance with the cataloguing apparatus for the present work.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Ustad Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam (Pakistani, 1956-2020)Untitled (Calligraphy) signed lower rightmultimedia on card, framed62.5 x 44.7cm (24 5/8 x 17 5/8in).Footnotes:ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artist and dedicated by the artist to the owner. Translation from Arabic: It is a blessing to be close to your benefactors.Ustad Gohar Qalam was a renowned calligrapher, who authored 18 books on the subject. Born in Sargodha, he studied calligraphy under Ustad Ismail Dehlevi and Hafiz Muhammad Yousal Sadidi. He was bestowed with the title of Gohar Qalam by both Nafees Qalam, another master of calligraphy and Professor Ghulam Nizamuddin from the University of Punjab. The work offered in this lot was dedicated to the vendor as evidenced by the translation. Qalam's major works include a copy of the Holy Qur'an in Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, which incorporates 406 styles of calligraphy and weighs 1600 kilograms. His works are displayed at the British Museum (Museum number:2002,0817,0.2) and at the Ashmolean in Oxford. Notably, he received the Pride of Performance, Pakistan's highest National Literary Award in 1991.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Ustad Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam (Pakistani, 1956-2020)Untitled (Calligraphy) signed and dated in Urdu lower rightwatercolour on card, framed30 x 50cm (11 13/16 x 19 11/16in).Footnotes:ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artist.Translation from Arabic: God is the Lord of all things.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Sumaira Amin (Pakistani, B. 1968)Untitled (Peacock) signed and dated in Urdu lower leftgouache on wasli, framed30 x 20.5cm (11 13/16 x 8 1/16in).Footnotes:ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artist.Sumaira Amin completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Miniature painting and Sculpture from the National College of Arts in Lahore in 2006, and stayed on and obtained her Diploma in Calligraphy in 2007. A student of Ustad Khurshid Alam Gohar, whose works are also on offer in this auction, she is known for protecting and propagating the traditional methods and approaches to painting. Her works are intricate and she succeeds in marrying the traditional with the contemporary. Her works have been exhibited at the Miniatures Exhibition at the Nehru Centre in the UK in 2017, at the Calligraphy Exhibition in Canada in 2017, at the National Museum of Oriental Art in Italy in 2016, the Miniature Painting show in Turkey in 2014 and the Art Festival in Dubai in 2013.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare 10th century Ghaznavid Persian high-tin bronze bowl with Kufic calligraphy and arabesque decoration. D.21cm

A Japanese 'ghost scroll' painted in ink on silk, Meiji Period, depicting a ghost holding a woman's decapitated head, signed and sealed, 88cm x 31cm and two pieces of Oriental calligraphy, one depicting the Chinese characters Zhi Jin Cheng, signed and sealed, 137cm x 70cm, the other depicting Zhen Long Tian Zi, Huang Di Bao Zuo and Chui Lian Ting Zheng CONDITION REPORT: Fragile and stained but complete

A Chinese Four Panel Hardstone Table Screen housed in Pierced Wooden Stand, The Panels with Hand Painted Decoration depicting Birds in Bamboo Scenes with Calligraphy. 25cms High

A Chinese Republic Cylindrical Teapot decorated in the Famille Rose Palette with Maidens in Garden Setting and Calligraphy Verses, 15cms High

A Chinese Porcelain Calligraphy Footed Dish, Mountain Scene, Rubbed, Red Seal Mark to base, 23cms Diameter

A Late 20th Century Chinese Porcelain Calligraphy Vase, Decorated with Figures, Children Carrying Giant Peach, Chinese God, Deer Etc with Patterned Ruyi Trim, Red and Gilt Seal Mark to Base, 36cms High

A BOX OF ASSORTED FOUNTAIN PENS, to include a boxed 'Fisher Space pen', a navy feather fountain pen, a boxed 'Alfa Romeo' advertising pen set, a miniature ball point pen fitted onto a book mark in a fitted box, a boxed 'Waterman' fountain pen, a 'Yves Saint Laurent' fountain pen, a boxed 'Stuart Houghton' calligraphy dip pen and a boxed 'The Cezanne pen' with ink well

A selection of various fountain pens, nibs and inks, to include Taylor [Peter E] A Manual of Calligraphy and Seligman [Patricia] The Art of Illuminated Letters.

ORIENTAL CALLIGRAPHY PANEL, hand painted in gold and red on a blue ground, water colour on board, 60cm H x 110cm.

A collection of eleven Chinese hand painted and printed scrolls, plus framed and loose calligraphy and woodblock prints

After Utagawa ToyosaiBust portrait of a man in traditional dress in an oval panel on a ground of calligraphyWoodblock print, 35cm by 23cmTwo Similar Examples, depicting ladies in traditional dress34cm by 23cm (3)

Pair of Cairoware vases inlaid throughout with calligraphy and geometric decoration in silver and copper on brass.Keywords: Damascus, Mamluk, HuukaHeight: 9 in x diameter: 5 in.

Four modern Chinese decorative paperweights of screen form, the panels depict the 'four arts of a Chinese scholar' - the mastery of Qin (music), Qi (chess), Shu (calligraphy), Hua (painting), Chinese hallmarked as 'pure silver', overall measuring 14.9 x 4.6 cm, total weight of items 28.8 ozt (4).

A calligraphy of a Doua by Yakkob al Mastaasmi from the 17th century.The Doua embellished with gold leaf and 18 by 29 cm.It is in good condition.

A Chinese part dinner and tea service, each piece on a turquoise ground enamel decorated with colourful butterflies and flowers to include plates, graduated bowls, rice spoons. miniature saki set with calligraphy and pink flowers etc Condition Report:Available upon request

A collection of white metal propelling pencils, including Parker, Dupont, Eversharp, a silver calligraphy pen, by Barker Brothers, Birmingham 1928 (6) Condition Report:Available upon request

A CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE 'FIGURAL' BOWL LATE QING DYNASTY Painted with Lu Xun as a young boy on horseback, and a bearded man, with lines of calligraphy to the reverse, the base with a Jiaqing mark, 20.5cm.

A CHINESE FAMILLE VERTE 'KUI XING' BRUSHPOT, BITONG KANGXI OR LATER The cylindrical body painted with the deity of examinations, Kui Xing, standing on the head of an ao emerging from crashing waves and scattered florets, holding a calligraphy brush in his right hand, the reverse inscribed with calligraphy, the base with an unglazed circle, together with a wood stand, 12.5cm. (2) Cf. S Marsh, Brushpots: A Collector's View, p.248 for a related brushpot.

A COLLECTION OF CHINESE INK BLOCKS REPUBLIC PERIOD Twelve depicting the animals of the zodiac, a further twelve decorated with flowers and foliage, all with calligraphy on the reverse and contained within two clothbound moulded slipcases, 32.5cm x 22cm. (24) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

A NORTHERN INDIAN MUGHAL BRONZE EWER, AFTABA AND AN INCENSE BURNER 18TH/19TH CENTURY The ewer raised on four feet, with a pear-shaped body engraved with floral and foliated design, set with a long straight spout and a S-shaped handle with makara and feline finial, surmounted by a domed cover, the incense burner decorated with calligraphy to one side, 2.2kg and 3.5kg, 28.7cm and 28cm. (2)

A CHINESE SOAPSTONE 'MAGNOLIA' LIBATION CUP QING DYNASTY OR LATER Imitating rhinoceros horn, the cup formed as a flowerhead, growing from a stalk handle issuing further flowers and leaves, one side inscribed with calligraphy, raised on high reticulated lacquered wood stand, 9cm. (2)

LITERATURE SEAL MARKS ON CHINESE PAINTING AND CALLIGRAPHY VOL.1 AND VOL.2, 1987 Shanghai Museum, Wenwu, Culture Relics Publishing House, reprinted in 2007. (2) Provenance: an Irish private collection, Dublin. PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

FOUR CATALOGUES FROM THE TEN BAMBOO STUDIO JULY 1952 Four volumes of Chinese woodblock prints of flowers, foliage, ceramics and calligraphy, the title slip by Yu Feiyan, all contained within a clothbound slipcase with a label reading 'shi zhu zhan jian pu', 31cm x 23cm x 5.5cm. Provenance: an English private collection, and thence by descent.

ZENG XI AND LIANG YUWEI (LATE QING DYNASTY) CALLIGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE Two Chinese scroll paintings, ink and colour on paper, inscribed and dated, each bearing two artists' seals, 134cm x 33cm. (2) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

A LARGE CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE 'WU SHANG PU' VESSEL AND COVER LATE QING DYNASTY Decorated with figures dressed in colourful robes with their titles, and panels with further calligraphy, the sides with thin twisted metal handles, 23cm. (2)

A CHINESE PORCELAIN 'LANDSCAPE' PANEL 20TH CENTURY Depicting two figures in a mountainous landscape with waterfalls, beneath calligraphy, contained in a reticulated wooden frame, 74cm x 43cm excluding the frame. PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

A CHINESE RECTANGULAR PLAQUE BY SHI YU CHU REPUBLIC PERIOD Painted with two swallows beneath willow branches, and pink prunus blossoms, with two lines of calligraphy and an artist's seal, 17.5cm x 25cm. Provenance: from a private collection, London, acquired from Peter Wain c.2000.

A CHINESE RECTANGULAR PLAQUE BY SHI KUN REPUBLIC PERIOD DATED 1945 Painted with two small figures crossing a bridge in an extensive mountain landscape, with six lines of calligraphy and an artist's seal, 38cm x 24.8cm. Provenance: from a private collection, London, acquired from Peter Wain c.2000.

A CHINESE CELADON JADE HUAN LATE QING DYNASTY/REPUBLIC PERIOD Each side carved in shallow relief, with panels of calligraphy includng Jian Ning nian zhi, and stylised makara, the stone with brown and grey mottled inclusions, 15.2cm. Provenance: from the collection of Captain Albert Makinson (1880-1961), and thence by descent.

HUANG BINHONG (1865-1955) LANDSCAPE AND CALLIGRAPHY A Chinese painting on a folding fan, ink on gold paper, inscribed and signed both sides with artist's seals which read Huang Binhong, 31cm wide. PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

A CHINESE EMBROIDERED SILK 'LANDSCAPE' PANEL LATE QING DYNASTY With fishermen in a mountainous village by the river's edge, three lines of calligraphy in the top right corner attributing the work to Qiu Yun, with a paper label for the Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition 1935-6, framed and glazed, the frame inlaid with mother of pearl, 92cm x 29.5cm. Provenance: formerly from the collection of Mrs Annie Hayes and thence by descent. Cf. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Embroideries and Paintings, 52, Hong Kong, p.56, no.25 for an embroidered silk panel with a similar mark.

A CHINESE EN GRISAILLE, IRON-RED AND GILT-DECORATED BALUSTER VASE REPUBLIC PERIOD Decorated with figures, each holding precious and auspicious objects, including coral sprigs, a giant coin and a ruyi sceptre, the reverse with calligraphy and signature reading Zhou Xiangfu, with a pair of applied makara handles, the base with a Qianlong mark, 46cm.

Ian Ritchie OBE RA Have You Seen My Piano?, 2022 Ink on Paper Signed verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.) About   I begin developing my art, architecture, and industrial designs through language: poetry, prose, and the occasional aphorism, influenced by subjects ranging from physics and neuroscience to remote landscapes and history. The scientists, artists, actors, and musicians I am lucky enough to call friends lead me to explore and enjoy every wider field of learning, stretching my imagination further. At the stage when I can sense the emerging project, I attempt to translate the concepts visually. Pencil, pen, biro - all instruments that mark are valid. But the greatest pleasure comes when I draw with a Japanese brush soaked in Sumi black ink. The drawing - a few simple lines of architectural calligraphy - attempts to synthesise and reveal the essential from the words in a way that is immediately tangible as an object or space. I then produce these drawings as etchings in the London studio of the artist and printmaker Norman Ackroyd RA - a good friend who taught me to see the rainbow in black. My late friend John Hoyland RA introduced me to the life and language of colour, which resulted in the monoprints I create in Barbara Rae RA's Edinburgh studio. Her friendship and generosity allows me to feel colour while she encourages me to think less. During recent years I have also been producing figurative works which are reproduced as etchings for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, and as Christmas cards. My art is held in public collections including the Royal Academy of Arts, Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art, Madrid, Lodz Gallery, Poland, the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, and the Royal Collection Trust / Queen Elizabeth II. I have published several books on architecture and one book of poetry. I am an elected member of the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, and lead ritchie*studio, an award-winning architecture and design practice renowned for glass architecture, material-technical innovation, and intelligent environmental and sustainable design Message from Art On A Postcard: Please do not bid if you intend to sell on the artwork. All artworks have been generously donated by the artists to raise money for The Hepatitis C Trust and when work is sold on the secondary market, it damages our relationship with the artist and prevents us from fundraising    

Ian Ritchie OBE RA The Owl + The Pussycat, 2022 Ink on Paper Signed verso 10 x 15cm (3¾ x 5¾ in.) About   I begin developing my art, architecture, and industrial designs through language: poetry, prose, and the occasional aphorism, influenced by subjects ranging from physics and neuroscience to remote landscapes and history. The scientists, artists, actors, and musicians I am lucky enough to call friends lead me to explore and enjoy every wider field of learning, stretching my imagination further. At the stage when I can sense the emerging project, I attempt to translate the concepts visually. Pencil, pen, biro - all instruments that mark are valid. But the greatest pleasure comes when I draw with a Japanese brush soaked in Sumi black ink. The drawing - a few simple lines of architectural calligraphy - attempts to synthesise and reveal the essential from the words in a way that is immediately tangible as an object or space. I then produce these drawings as etchings in the London studio of the artist and printmaker Norman Ackroyd RA - a good friend who taught me to see the rainbow in black. My late friend John Hoyland RA introduced me to the life and language of colour, which resulted in the monoprints I create in Barbara Rae RA's Edinburgh studio. Her friendship and generosity allows me to feel colour while she encourages me to think less. During recent years I have also been producing figurative works which are reproduced as etchings for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, and as Christmas cards. My art is held in public collections including the Royal Academy of Arts, Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art, Madrid, Lodz Gallery, Poland, the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, and the Royal Collection Trust / Queen Elizabeth II. I have published several books on architecture and one book of poetry. I am an elected member of the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, and lead ritchie*studio, an award-winning architecture and design practice renowned for glass architecture, material-technical innovation, and intelligent environmental and sustainable design Message from Art On A Postcard: Please do not bid if you intend to sell on the artwork. All artworks have been generously donated by the artists to raise money for The Hepatitis C Trust and when work is sold on the secondary market, it damages our relationship with the artist and prevents us from fundraising    

A selection of books, titles including: Meet Us in the Garden, by Frances Pitt; The Deserted Village, by Oliver Goldsmiths; The Bible; The Art of Calligraphy, by Joyce Irene Whalley; and others.

A JAPANESE WOOD OKIMONO OF A RABBIT TAISHO ERA, DATED 1923 Realistically carved, with its head slightly turned to the left and with its long ears folded over its back, the underside with two lines of calligraphy which read Taisho juninen shunjitsu, Ryusen to (Carved by Ryusen, on a spring day in Taisho 12th), 22.5cm.

A RARE JAPANESE WOOD PLAQUE BY ISHIKAWA KOMEI (1852-1913) MEIJI ERA, DATED 1912 The disc decorated with a plump rat gnawing on small seeds, the charming rodent depicted in low relief, the surface of the wood grain featuring vertical striations in various shades of chocolate-brown; inscribed with three lines of calligraphy reading Meiji Mizunoe-ne Gantan, Gyonen Rokuju-ichi-sai (New Year's Day, in the year 1912 of the Meiji Period), signed Komei underneath and with a seal reading Ishi (for Ishikawa); with two metal hooks to the top for suspension; together with a fitted tomobako wood box, 31.7cm. (2) Ishikawa Komei was recognised as one of the greatest artists of the Meiji Era. Born in Asakusa, Tokyo, he grew up in a family of miya-bori (sculptors of wood carvings for Shinto shrines). In 1891, he was appointed as Teishitsu Gigeiin (Imperial Craftsman), and then became Professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Art. His work was exhibited in Japan and overseas, and he received many awards for his works, both in his own country and internationally. His sculptures were admired at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (1876), the Paris Expositions Universelles (1889 and 1900), Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition (1893), and the Japan-British Exhibition (1910). Komei died on 30th July 1913, a year after he carved this plaque, when he was at the apotheosis of his career.

UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858) EDO PERIOD, C.1853-58 A rare Japanese album of woodblock prints, containing sixty-nine views from the series Rokujuyoshu Meisho Zue (Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces), each signed Hiroshige ga, published by Koshimuraya Heisuke; the opening and last pages made of a vertical oban diptych, also by Hiroshige, depicting many cranes flying over crashing waves, signed on the lower sheet Hiroshige hitsu and sealed Ichiryusai, published by Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendo), 1858; the second page a woodblock print with calligraphy before a red sun, a bonsai tree on a table underneath it, the text mentioning the publisher Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendo), each sheet oban tate-e, 36.3cm x 24.8cm. Provenance: an English private collection, purchased in Ferndown in the 1980s, by repute.

ATTRIBUTED TO TAKEUCHI SEIHO (1864-1942) KONO BAIREI (1844-95) MEIJI ERA, 19TH/20TH CENTURY A Japanese watercolour painting of a large owl perched on a flowering prunus tree, with the full moon behind and a small sparrow flying below, signed and with a red seal mark for Seiho, 32.4cm x 17cm; and a Japanese woodblock print depicting two small owls, a stream meandering below and with a crescent moon behind, a panel of calligraphy lower left, signed and sealed, 36.9cm x 24.2cm. (2) Provenance: from the private collection of a British artist, formed in the 1990s.

UNIDENTIFIED ARTISTS MEIJI OR LATER, 19TH OR 20TH CENTURY Two Japanese yurei-zu kakemono (hanging scroll paintings of ghosts), both ink and colour on paper, each a gruesome depiction of a female ghost, the first a nearly-headless figure with a sickle dug deep in her neck, a red seal mark lower right, 54.5cm x 23cm; the other grimacing whilst holding a severed head, with lines of calligraphy, signed and with two red seal marks, 98 cm x 29.5cm, one with a tomobako wood box. (3)