Japan, a fine old blue, heavily hand cast and unusual iron lantern in the form of a Japanese mountain minka style cabin that may be suspended in your favorite indoor or special outdoor space.

And just marvel at its gorgeous night light that bursts from all sides!

It possesses beautiful finely articulated roof details, handsome splayed legs, and traces of its original old blue hand painted color. The double crossed lines in the round circles depicted on each of its four sides remind us of the Japanese “Enso” kanji and wish granting symbology.

This is only the second example of this larger scale style we have seen in over fifteen years of dealing with fine Japanese garden ornaments.

Large Dimensions: 13 inches tall to the top of the loop hanger and 8.5 inches square- a hefty example

Period: Showa period.

Quality: The lantern exudes high quality craftsmanship original patina and traces of the original blue paint from appropriate age.

Good garden or indoor candidate- this is an ideal accent size for a small indoor space or outdoor garden.

Only one.

Provenance: Old western Japanese collection.

Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. All our Asian works of art are accompanied by our lifetime guarantee of authenticity.

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, to¯ro¯ 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.
Yukimi-do¯ro¯ or legged lanterns have as a base not a post but curved legs and a wide umbrella with a finial. Relatively low, they are used exclusively in gardens and the traditional placement is near water. The umbrella can be round or have from three to eight sides, while the fire box is usually hexagonal. “Yu” loosley translated means water reflection. It was probably developed during the Momoyama period, but the oldest extant examples, found at the Katsura Villa in Kyoto, go back only to the early Edo period, (17th century).