We just added nearly a hundred different handcrafted ocarina whistles and flutes to our website. Each is molded and painted by hand and feature a variety of classic

Also added today are a wide variety of carved gourd pieces from Peru. Choose from carved baskets, boxes, and marachas.

We just added our largest shipment ever of Sandalwood and Painted Chinese fans to our site. Choose from over 50 different designs with even more on the way. We have everything from Dragons to Landscapes.

Just added today…

An amazing selection of high quality Mammoth Ivory Netuke. Great designs including Geisha, Doctor’s Ladies, and more.

The Japanese art of Ukiyo-e developed in the city of Edo (now Tokyo) during the Tokugawa or Edo Period (1615-1868). These two names refer to the relatively peaceful 250 years during which the Tokugawa shoguns ruled Japan and made Edo the shogunal seat of power.

The social hierarchy of the day, officially established by shogun rulers, placed the merchants, the wealthiest segment of the population, at the lower end of the scale. With their political power effectively removed, the merchant class turned to art and culture as arenas in which they could participate on an equal basis with the elite upper classes (warriors, farmers, and artisans). It was the collaboration among the merchants, artists, publishers, and townspeople of Edo that gave Ukiyo-e its unique voice. In turn, Ukiyo-e provided these groups with a means of attaining cultural status outside the sanctioned realms of shogunate, temple, and court.

Although Ukiyo-e was initially considered “low” art, by and for the non-elite classes, its artistic and technical caliber is consistently remarkable. Reading the images demands an extremely high level of visual, textual, and cultural literacy. From its earliest days, Ukiyo-e images and texts frequently referred to themes from classical, literary, and historical sources. At the same time, Ukiyo-e constantly expanded to reflect contemporary tastes, concerns, and innovations over the two and a half centuries of its development. The result was an art that was both populist (of and for the people, readily accessible, plentiful, affordable) and highly sophisticated. In summary, Ukiyo-e presented both the historical and all that was current, fashionable, chic, and popular. In the hands of the Ukiyo-e artist, the ordinary was transformed into the extraordinary.

Just in…

A great selection of spiritual and ritual items from Nepal and India. Included in the shipments are Tibetan Tingshas, Singing Bowls, Table Chimes and more.