Beautiful pair (2) tall hand carved hexagonal shaped solid cedar wood door panel lanterns- rare survivors and in wonderful condition and possessing their old paper liners still in good condition. Hand carved from solid cedar wood, they may be perfectly displayed in your special indoor display setting.

Gorgeous cross hatched crafted side panels with old paper liners make these authentic hard to find Japanese treasures a special opportunity and beautifully displayable.

Original label on lower front side of one of these lanterns reads: “Yakusugi lantern”.
Yakusugi (屋久杉) refers to “Japanese cedar” (sugi, or Cryptomeria, a coniferous tree) on the island of Yakushima, typically growing at altitudes 500 meters and higher. The term also extends to the lumber taken from the logging of these coniferous trees. Cedar is a tough weather resistant wood used in high quality out door lantern ornament craft and outdoor architecture.

They possess handsome original patina and this pair is a first in this style with this attractive motif we have seen.

This glowing pair (see photo) will warmly welcome your guests.

In a convenient portable size and displaying exceptional simplistic decorations, they may be suspended from the iron loop seen at the top or installed on their sturdy hand carved wood bases on any surface.

Warm original patina from appropriate age.

Dimensions: each approximately 11 inches tall to top of loop and 8.5 inches wide

These are ideal accent sizes for your special indoor gallery display.

Provenance: Old Japanese Shiga collection.

Many of our customers place LED or candles inside the main section making a romantic and enjoyable decorative accent for entertaining friends and family.

Lifetime guarantee of authenticity. We are members of NAJGA- North American Japanese Garden Association.

Our gallery based in Newport, Rhode Island USA has been dealing in authentic Pre-Columbian, Japanese and fine Asian art, garden ornaments, lanterns and water basins for 25 years. Our president personally travels across America as well as Japan and Europe each year to meet his network partners who assist him in finding best examples. He personally inspects each antique work of art to ensure its old age, authenticity and quality condition.

History of Japanese lanterns:

In Japan a to¯ro¯ (lantern) is a traditional lantern made of stone, wood, or metal. Like many other elements of Japanese traditional architecture, it originated in China. In Japan, toro were originally used only in Buddhist temples, where they lined and illuminated paths and lighted lanterns were then considered an offering. In its complete, original form the lantern represents five elements of Buddhist cosmology: Bottom touching the ground, represents chi, the earth, the next section represents sui, or water, ka or fire, is represented by the section encasing the lantern’s light or flame, while fu¯ (air) and ku¯ (void or spirit) are represented by the last two sections, top-most and pointing towards the sky. These last two sections express the idea that after death our physical bodies will go back to their original, elemental form.