Vintage Magnolia Balm for a lovely complexion, advertising circa 1900. The copy reads: "How Shall a face upon which nature has not set the seal of beauty be made by art to seem beautiful? A lovely complexion and fair skin for all. Radiant purity of the skin........" The product was made by Lyon Manufacturing Co, 144 Duane Street, New York. A note to the buyer reads: "This is a specimen of Japanese paper and ornamental printing done in the city of Yeddo Japan and used as a napkin by those wonderful people." The frame measures 10.5 x 12.5 inches and the print measures 6.5 x 8 inches. Excellent condition, newly framed.

Champlevé bronze Chinese urn c1860 lamped. This Chinese "Champlevé bronze" vase measures 23 inches high. The overall measurement from the base to the top of the harp is 37 inches and it has a 7 inches wood vase.Excellent condition with decorative enamel inserted around its mid section. Excellent condition. Champlevé is an enameling technique in the decorative arts, or an object made by that process, in which troughs or cells are carved, etched, die struck, or cast into the surface of a metal object, and filled with vitreous enamel. The piece is then fired until the enamel fuses, and when cooled the surface of the object is polished. The un carved portions of the original surface remain visible as a frame for the enamel designs; typically they are gilded in medieval work. The name comes from the French for "raised field", "field" meaning background, though the technique in practice lowers the area to be enameled rather than raising the rest of the surface. The technique has been used since ancient times, though it is no longer among the most commonly used enameling techniques. Champlevé is suited to the covering of relatively large areas, and to figurative images, although it was first prominently used in Celtic art for geometric designs. In Romanesque art its potential was fully used, decorating caskets, plaques and vessels.

Fine brass inlaid wood Surahi vessel, circa 1870-80. Probably made in Mainpuri, a district in the Agra region of northern India. The artisans who specialized in this delicate work, known as tarkashi, were members of the Ojha caste, whose ancestors migrated from Rajistan to Mainpuri in the 14th century. For more information and related examples, please see Furniture From British India and Ceylon by Amin Jaffer, V & A Publications 2001, pages 305-307. Measures 6 inches high, a bit of minor inlay loss.

Korean pair of carved wood tortoise stands, Choson Dynasty, 17th-18th century. Each carved from a single block of wood and retaining its original polychromed surface. Each measures 7 inches long by 6 inches high and 5 inches wide. Now set with candle-pricks for use as candle holders. Tortoises have long been associated with nobility and longevity in Korean and other Asian cultures.MAIN

Rare museum quality Kangxi period Tibetan scholar's lift top scroll chest. Late 17th to early 18th century. Exquisitely hand painted front panel depicts a magnificent writhing dragon amid blue and green clouds on a red orange ground; the side panels are in tiger pelt motif. All original including the hand wrought iron hardware. It measures 41 inches high by 58 inches wide by 19.5 inches deep. This is one of the most stunning examples of Chinese painted furniture we have ever seen. For a related example, please see Chinese Furniture by Michel Beurdeley, published by Kodansha International, 1979, plate 152.