Antique Japanese Art

 Welcome to our website for Japanese art. We would like to invite you to discover our collection of fine antique works of art, ranging from screen paintings and hanging scroll to traditional ceramics, elegant lacquer works, exceptional sculptures and intricately woven bamboo flower baskets. All of our objects are unique masterpieces carefully selected by the gallerist and art historian Dr. Fabian Alexander Kommoss for their historical significance and outstanding quality. Galerie Kommoss is a leading gallery for fine Japanese art in Europe.

Why Japanese Art?

Refined elegance and astonishing craftsmanship on one side, and rough, coarse-looking ceramics that seem to have been created by nature itself on the other, the wide spectrum of Japanese art is fascinating and never monotonous. In fact, the opposite is true: Whether you look at the more popular and immediately appealing images of a Hokusai, the serene beauty of Japanese Buddhist sculpture, or the often complex aesthetic programs of traditional tea culture, the deeper you delve into the complex images, often subtly imbued with metaphorical meaning or humor, the more exciting it gets. What makes Japanese art so attractive to us is its pervasive characteristic of understanding the natural world as a source of spiritual insight and an instructive mirror of human emotion.

Special Exhibition

Galerie Kommoss' sepcial exhibition Painted Poems, Written Images – Poetic Art by Ōtagaki Rengetsu brings together paintings, calligraphy, and ceramic works by Japan’s most famous 19th-century female artist. Known for her elegant handwriting, Rengetsu often reveals a sophisticated and complex relationship between materiality and meaning in her works. The complete exhibition can be viewed online.

Object of the Month

It is cherry blossom time! Loved by young and old around the world, the cherry blossom season in Japan is celebrated with a special custom called hanami. Hanami literally translates as "looking at flowers" and describes the tradition of walking or sitting under the pink clouds of blossoms while enjoying music, poetry, drinks and food. In this beautiful Nabeshima dish, no people are shown, but the luxurious carriage under the flowering tree implies a Heian court nobleman or woman coming from the palace to enjoy the most precious time of the year, contemplating the beauty of life.

Nabeshima ware is one of the highest quality porcelains in the world. They were produced by the Nabeshima clan in Okawachi near Arita between the 17th and the late 19th century either for their own use or as sumptuous diplomatic gifts. This plate dates from 1770-1800 and was part of a set of which another plate is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.