First we’ve seen, unusual style

Japan, an antique hand cast round lantern with a unique armilliary orb inside with intriguing details from the Taisho period.

May be suspended from its sturdy top bronze loop handle.

Hinged at center allows easy access to place your favorite LED or candle inside.

Handsome old rustic patina.

Hand cast.

Dimensions: 13.5 inches diameter

Hand cast. Hard to find this style today for the discerning garden or sculpture collection

Lifetime guarantee of authenticity.

About Japanese lanterns.
Japan’s lantern tradition is a concept that was imported from India and has existed in Japanese temples and gardens since the 7th century.

They were originally conceived as entrance lighting and guardians to temples and pagodas and when lit served as an offering to Buddha. Some of the earliest stone lanterns were carved with Buddhist images on the firebox and usually had compartments for an oil lamp or candle. Later on, they became more secular in nature, and their use evolved as functional and decorative elements in traditional Japanese tea gardens where they served as a spiritual source of light for evening tea ceremonies. Often carved from granite stone, today’s vintage survivors serve as fashionable aesthetic elements in modern day Japanese and Asian inspired gardens. Today, during festivals and ceremonies, rice paper is often cut to fit stone lantern windows to increase reflection of candles placed inside them. Soon these paper lenses disappear and for one special evening and event, the glow is surreal.