Japanese Antiques Reference Desk / 骨董参照デスク

For Mundy's Asia Galleries. Free Japanese-language reference links for all Japanese antiques, and one prompt for any AI. The AI reads, searches, and translates. You compare the images and decide. When nothing matches cleanly, the answer is ASK A FRIEND.

How to use it

Photograph the piece: the whole piece, front, back and sides, the bottom or back, the box lid (outside and inside), the box signature and seal up close, and any mark on the piece.
Copy the prompt below. Open ChatGPT (or any AI), paste it, attach the photos, and send.
Click the Japanese links it gives you and compare with your own eyes.

Verdict	Meaning
MATCH 一致	You have a documented example open next to your piece, with the same signature and seal (or the same form and marks). Only you can call a match.
CANDIDATE 候補	A name or kiln fits what can be read, but it is not yet confirmed against images.
ASK A FRIEND 要確認	Characters cannot be read, sources disagree, or nothing comparable was found.

If the AI gives a different name each time you ask, treat it as ASK A FRIEND.

The Prompt

Click inside the box, select all (Cmd+A on Mac, Ctrl+A on Windows), and copy.

I'm Rhett, a Japanese antiques dealer. Help me research this piece. I make the final call, not you. Answer in English only.

My library: https://www.onsenkoguma.com/mundys-private
Open it. Its "Museum Record Index" lists real museum records (title, date, material, size, museum, link). Use ONLY those records and the museum links on that page. No shops, no auction sites, no blogs, no general web. If the page will not open, tell me that in one line and stop.

1. Describe the piece: material, how it was made, shape, decoration, wear, repairs, damage. Plain English. Put the Japanese word in brackets only for the key terms.
2. Read any writing on the piece, box, signature, or seal. Mark each character clear, probable, or can't read. Never guess. If there is none, say "No writing."
3. Never tell me who made it, where, or when. Only say CANDIDATE (and show why) or ASK A FRIEND.
4. From the Museum Record Index, list up to 5 records that are the closest kind of object (same material, same form). For each: the link, and one line on what is similar and what is different. If none are close, say so.
5. Only quote records you actually opened. If you could not open a record page, say so. Never give a price.
6. If you're unsure or sources disagree, say "I can't confirm this."
7. If ASK A FRIEND, write a short message in English that I can send to my antiques friend, describing the piece and asking what they think.

Here are my photos:

Start here for any object (all categories)

Link	Use
Japan Search ジャパンサーチ	A national portal that searches many Japanese museum and archive databases at once. It has similar-image search, and you can upload your own photo (Japan Search guide).
ColBase	The combined collections of the Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Kyushu National Museums and related institutes (ColBase). You can search by inscription (銘文), artist, or place of production (ColBase help).
e国宝	High-resolution images of the National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties held by the national museums (e国宝).
文化遺産オンライン	Designated cultural properties plus collection records from museums across Japan (NDL Research Navi).
国指定文化財等データベース	The Agency for Cultural Affairs' database of every nationally designated cultural property (文化庁).
東京国立博物館画像検索	About 112,000 images of objects in the Tokyo National Museum (TNM).
NDL Digital Collections 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション	Old reference books, sale catalogues, and seal books. Some are free online; many are viewable only in libraries in Japan (NDL Search).
東文研物故者記事	Authoritative obituaries of Japanese artists and craftspeople in every medium, 3,120 entries (Tobunken).

Our own gallery: Mundy's Asia Galleries

Link	Use
AsiaGalleries.com	Rhett's public site for Buddhist artifacts and Japanese antiques, including a New Arrivals category of recent acquisitions from Japanese auctions (AsiaGalleries.com). Check it first to see whether a similar piece, signature, or seal has already passed through the gallery, and to keep descriptions consistent.

A note on trust: our own listings record what we believed at the time. A past listing on our site is a useful lead, not independent proof. To call a MATCH, also confirm the piece against one of the outside sources below.

By category

Ceramics 陶磁器 (kilns, potters, seals)

やきもの産地リスト: a list of Japanese ceramic regions.
佐賀県立九州陶磁文化館: the reference collection for Imari and Arita, Kakiemon, Nabeshima, Karatsu, and other Kyushu wares (Kyushu Ceramic Museum).
Prefecture designation pages, for example Gifu, 志野, list each prefecture's designated master potters. Search the prefecture's name plus 重要無形文化財.
Japan Search: 天目茶碗 (tenmoku tea bowls, 559 records)
Japan Search: 萩茶碗 (Hagi tea bowls)
Japan Search: 黒楽茶碗 (black Raku tea bowls)
V&A: Seto tea bowl
V&A: Hagi tea bowl

Paintings, scrolls, calligraphy 書画・掛軸

東文研書画家番付 database: rankings of late Edo, Meiji, and Taisho painters and calligraphers (described on Art Platform Japan).
Printed references in Kyoto, at the Kyoto Prefectural Library and Archives (京都府立京都学・歴彩館), which publishes call numbers (Kyoto Prefecture): 日本書画落款大事典, with 14,400 signatures at actual size (Art Platform Japan), and 日本書画落款印譜集成.
日本書画鑑定大事典: about 48,000 artists, including both painters and craftspeople. Known forged seals are marked as forgeries (国書刊行会).

Woodblock prints 浮世絵・版画

ARC 立命館 databases: Ritsumeikan University's Art Research Center databases, including its ukiyo-e print databases.

Buddhist art 仏教美術 (sculpture, paintings, ritual objects)

奈良国立博物館収蔵品データベース: sculpture, painting, calligraphy, crafts, and archaeology, with transcribed inscriptions (国立文化財機構).
奈良国立博物館画像データベース: about 170,000 photographic records of Buddhist art. Images display only for the museum's own collection (奈良国立博物館).
日本美術院修理記録データベース: restoration records for Buddhist sculpture from 1899 to 1944 (国立文化財機構).
In person, by appointment: the Nara National Museum's Buddhist art research center, about 270,000 photographs (奈良国立博物館).

Swords and sword fittings 刀剣・刀装具 (tsuba and others)

日本美術刀剣保存協会 (NBTHK): it examines swords and sword fittings, records them in registers, and publishes illustrated volumes for the pieces that pass its higher rankings (NBTHK). Its certificates are the market standard for Japanese swords.
Printed references: 刀工大鑑 and 刀剣銘字大鑑 (10 volumes), held by the Seki City Library, which keeps a dedicated sword collection (関市立図書館).

Folk crafts 民藝 (textiles, wood, lacquer, metal, stone, baskets, Otsu-e)

日本民藝館所蔵品: about 17,000 Japanese and foreign crafts collected by Yanagi Sōetsu (日本民藝館), across ceramics, textiles, woodwork and lacquer, painting, metalwork, stonework, and woven work (JTB).

Ainu objects アイヌ

国立アイヌ民族博物館収蔵資料データベース: the national museum for Ainu culture (文化庁).

No writing on it? (stone, wood, metal, lacquer, screens)

Let the AI describe the piece first: material, how it was made, shape, decoration, wear (prompt rule 1).
Upload your photo to Japan Search ジャパンサーチ similar-image search. It searches Japanese museum and archive collections, not shops.
Search the museum databases in the category below with the description words, in Japanese and English.
If no museum record is close, the answer is ASK A FRIEND.
Search tip, from 18 tests on real dealer pieces: use the full Japanese object name (天目茶碗, not 天目; 御所人形, not 人形). In English, add the kind of object plus Japan ("hagi tea bowl", "futon cover japan"). One-word searches pull up unrelated records.

World museums (free photos)

Stone 石造物 (figures, Buddhas, lanterns, guardian lions)

Search words: 石像 (stone statue), 石仏 (stone Buddha), 石人 (stone figure of a person), 地蔵 (Jizō), 羅漢 (rakan), 狛犬 / 石獅子 (guardian lions), 石灯籠 (stone lantern), 道祖神 (roadside guardian). Korean tomb figures are called 문인석 / 무인석 in Korean (civil and military official stones). Careful: on Japanese auctions 文人石 usually means a scholar's display rock, not a carved figure.