Beautiful lichen patina, lovely lantern

Japan, a fine large vintage hand carved stone Yukimi round top lantern with beautiful details from the early Showa period, 1920s-1940s.

The striking and well proportioned old lantern is fashioned from stone as roof kasa and light chamber or base Hibukuro or kiso all with attractive lichen patina from good age.

Notice the lovely lichen on roof.

Dimensions: 28 inches tall and 24 inches diameter, five pieces. Please note the bottom round base stone is not part of this lantern.

Hand carved. Lovely old natural lichen patina. Hard to find this quality today for the discerning garden or sculpture collection.

History of Yukimi lantern:
Yukimi-do-ro or legged lanterns have as a base not a post but from one to six curved legs, and a wide umbrella with a finial either low or absent. Relatively low, they are used exclusively in gardens. The traditional placement is near water, and a three-legged lantern will often have two legs in the water, and one on land but today they enjoy wide spread popularity placed in many different settings and in many different styles of gardens. The umbrella can be round or have from three to eight sides, while the fire box is usually hexagonal.
Yukimi denotes water reflection.

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

We have been dealing in authentic Japanese and fine Asian art, garden ornaments, lanterns and water basins for 25 years. Our president personally travels to 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.

About Japanese stone lanterns.

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

Japan’s lantern tradition was 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.