Also called guest hibachi, all tabako-bon contained two essential parts: (1) a small receptacle like a miniature hibachi where small bits of charcoal (sumi) were kept burning among ashes for use in lighting tobacco, and (2) a piece of slender bamboo, cut right below a joint, which was used as both an ashtray and a hand-held cuspidor. Some boxes also had little drawers built in for keeping tobacco and pipes. Tobacco boxes reached their peak use in the Edo period, when smoking was widespread among both men and women and etiquette demanded that tobacco be offered to visitors or friends. Custom demanded that whenever a visitor arrived, the first act of welcome would be to set a small personal hibachi in front of him. This was also true of commercial shops. The strong kizami tobacco was smoked only in small amounts in slender pipes with tiny pipe bowls (kiseru). Production of smoker’s hibachi ceased at the end of the 19th century, when cigarettes became fashionable and virtually replaced pipe smoking. Finished on the top and all four sides, this finely-crafted old box makes a charming interior accessory which views well from any angle. It is suitable for burning incense, holding a flower arrangement or adorning a coffee table or sideboard. It also may be used for its traditional purpose.

The process of dyeing textiles from stencils is principally a resist technique which involves covering the area to be protected with a soluble rice paste applied directly to the fabric. After the application of the paste, the stenciler then carefully removes the stencil and moves it to an adjacent position to repeat the process, continuing the entire length of the yardage to be stenciled. “Katagami,” the special papers used in the process of stencil cutting, were made from the inner bark of the mulberry bush. Soaked in the juice of aged persimmons, two or three sheets were laminated together and smoke cured. After the paper was cured, the tannin from the persimmon juice formed a plastic-like waterproof coating which made the shiny paper stiff yet pliable and served to waterproof it against the dissolving effect of the water-based resist paste used in the process of dyeing. The cutting process required the utmost skill and the sharpest of separate knives for the different cuts required by the pattern design. Highly skilled craftsmen cut the paper using circular punches and knives to create elaborate patterns of minute landscapes, flowers, birds, insects and other detailed designs with extreme care and patience. Many designs took months to cut. (See “Traditional Japanese Stencil Designs” edited by Clarence Hornung.)

The Iris (“shobu”), a sturdy, easily cultivated flower, represents the month of May and is also the main emblem of the Boys’ Day Festival. The long, flat, blade-shaped leaves are reminiscent of a sword, and thus this flower is emblematic of manly strength and has come to be symbolic of victory. Its stiff upright petals are likened to the outstanding character and virtues associated with ancient samurai warriors, and it can also be used to represent a wish for good health and renewed vitality.

Arita is a town on the island of Kyushu which has been a center of Japanese porcelain production since the seventeenth century. With Arita blue and whites, the blue is produced from a cobalt or indigo pigment and is painted straight onto the biscuit, after which the piece is glazed and fired. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export.

Originating from Sado Island, the gentle Jizo is one of the most popular and revered Buddhist deities in Japan. He is guardian to children, travelers, pregnant women and farmers. Images of Jizo are typically carved in granite or volcanic rock and placed at crossroads, where his presence is security for those traveling the roads, or on the grounds of a temple, where he will be asked to assist those in need. Because of their role in protecting travelers, stone images of Jizo were extremely prevalent at roadside shrines in the old days. Today, one still finds them clustered in open subsidiary shrines within the precincts of major Buddhist temples.

What makes this stone Jizo so unique is the fact that he is wearing a silk bib, which would have been placed on the statue by people who wanted Jizo to protect the soul of a loved one. Pilgrims and worshippers would tie bib-like cloth aprons around the necks of stone Jizo figures as an act of devotion, as in the group of one hundred Jizo images at Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. Since Jizo is the guardian of children, parents would often bring little garments, hats or bibs and dress the statue in hopes that Jizo would specially protect their child both in this world or in the afterlife. This long silk bib is beautifully decorated using the shibori dyeing technique and hand painted blossoms and bamboo, which were highlighted in very tiny gold embroidered threads.

Chinese bronzes were imported to Japan during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods for use in the decoration of new styles of palace interiors. With the emergence of flower arrangement and the tea ceremony as distinctively Japanese cultural pursuits, bronze casters began to develop new and innovative forms of vessels loosely based on Chinese originals but with an unmistakable Japanese elegance. The usubata (“thin rim”) form was a purely Japanese development. Its wide, flat mouth was particularly favored as a means of enhancing the aesthetic balance between the flowering plants and their container, and this style of flower vessel remained popular until the very end of the Meiji period. (See similar examples illustrated and discussed in the sumptuous book entitled FLOWER BRONZES OF JAPAN by Joe Earle.)

Japanese bronze casters in the early and middle Edo period perfected an innovative and elegant style of container in response to changing tastes in flower arrangement. This elegance was retained until the 19th century, when differing aesthetics demands gave rise to the development of new, more highly decorated, types of bronze vessels. This is one of the finest flower bronzes we have ever had the opportunity to acquire.

Along with Kannon Bodhistattva (Godess of Mercy), Jizo is perhaps the most popular deity of the common people. He incorporates attributes from both Buddhist traditions and from earlier Shinto beliefs and Shinto kami (deities). He is guardian to children and travelers and pregnant women. Most Jizo statues hold a jewel in the left hand and a staff in the right hand, forming the standard iconography of this deity. Jizo is also often portrayed in the "one foot slightly forward" pose to indicate that Jizo is walking in the present world.

Kugikakushi came into widespread use in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were used to provide a decorative metal covering for the joints of the huge beams and posts of shrines and temples and also in the grand castles that were constructed for various daimyo (feudal lords). Nail head covers were usually cast in metal from molds, and the surface was then finished in varying techniques. So many metal alloys were used that it is difficult to determine the base metal of most kugikakushi. Some of the decorative methods include engraving the design on the mold, which creates an embossed pattern on the metal; openwork; chiseling or engraving on the finished object; plating; lacquering and enameling. Decorative motifs for many centuries played a prominent role in both the religious and daily lives of the Japanese people. Architecture was embellished with these symbols, which were representative of both the tangibles of nature and the intangibles of the spirit. Birds, bats, turtles, bamboo and family crests were some of the popular subjects for nail head covers. (See examples of kugikakushi on page 181 of “Japanese Antiques” by Patricia Salmon.)