Please take the time to read through our user and buyer feedback – or leave us some yourself.
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Please take the time to read through our user and buyer feedback – or leave us some yourself.
You can also browse through our Google reviews here, or add your own review there too.
What a great experience purchasing from Mingei Arts. Very fair pricing and responsive to my inquiries. Thanks again!!!
The Rice Merchant ivory okimono arrived in perfect condition as usual, Michael and Robert. It immediately becomes the centerpiece of our antique Japanese ivory collection. Visually and tactilely, it is a superb piece of art. We marveled at the detail in the grains of rice, the rice baskets, and his heavy coat. The carving of the hands and feet, the little bird hoping for a grain of rice to drop to the feet of the merchant, and the merchant’s happy face all contribute to the total effect. Then when we picked it up, we could feel the texture of the baskets, coat, and rice. Many thanks to you, Robert and Michael, for finding such beauty and art in a piece less than six inches tall. Thank you also for the history lesson on rice merchants, valuable background of the type you include with all purchases.
Collecting items of this type has long been a goal of my wife and me. We wanted something from the Japanese culture to pass on to our children and grandchildren because they are quickly getting away from their background. We did not dare take a chance on acquiring these beautiful and valuable art pieces from just anyone. But one day we happened into Vermillion, your shop in Carmel. Both of us felt something good about you–trust. When we discovered a box with some beautiful netsuke, we, without hesitation, bought two of them, thus beginning our antique ivory collection. Through your assistance we have created a very good collection. We have every confidence in your judgment, expertise, and evaluation of Japanese folk art. We have never been disappointed.
I just received your kokeshi book and beautiful Akita Ittobori carving – very special surprise when I came home from work – and especially that it is my birthday today, so very appropriate. Thank you for the prompt service from the USA to Australia. I look forward to browsing your site for more treasures.
Amazing service! I orderd a copy of your book Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan on Thursday and received it in Friday’s mail. I also received a personal email Thursday afternoon with shipping confirmation and a thank you for my purchase. I rather feel as if I was in Japan. I am very happy with the book as it has been difficult to find clear information on kokeshi. I have a rather small collection, but I plan to keep adding to it, and knowing more about what I buy will help immensely. Thank you again.
I am sitting at my Apple on a dreary melbourne Sunday morning and my spirits have been lifted immensely.
My well read copy of your beautiful book is placed beside me, and I am delighted to have added your sumptuous web site to my favorites. I have been collecting kokeshi for over 5 years and your book along with the tiny tome by Takeuchi and Stephens have been my constant companions. My collection of many hundreds surrounds me as I write; and now try to buy only the very best of the dento and sosaku with the developing knowledge I have.
Each year at sakura time my husband and i visit Japan and wander the antique shops, print galleries and flee markets; this morning I have felt like I have been back amongst it all. We travelled to Japan straight after the Tsunami and were touched by our Japanese friend’s steely determination to assist their northern counterparts in whatever way possible…most inspiring. Thank you Michael and Robert for helping me further grow in my understanding of the land I love so dearly.
I’m so happy to hear that you will entertain a counter offer on your antiques. My retirement income has been greatly reduced with the bad economy, and there are still a number of items I would love to order so I will be taking you up on your counter offers.
Robert and Michael have been a pleasure to work with since I first met them online in 2005. Since then they have been an invaluable source of information regarding kokeshi, and I am indebted to them for the publication of their book (the only one in English I could find when I was doing research for our kokeshi exhibition at the JANM).
I love the koi pond and feeding the koi with a click of the mouse. I discovered that the koi follow the mouse as it moves across the pond until they are fed. Yesterday I was waiting for my dental appointment, and feeding the koi really helped to reduce the stress of my dental procedure. Fun activity while shopping. I just love your book! My sisters all want copies for their birthday presents.
I must write about this find–you found it; we get it. The bold, detailed carving on the kiseru zutsu is extraordinarily beautiful. The wooden horse netsuke is unlike the delicate ivory netsuke that we have collected, yet it is most appropriate, so powerful. The lacquered pipe and ojime complement the set.
As usual, the set arrived in perfect condition. Thank you so much for having this on-line site where we can confidently make purchases.
I am so glad I bought your book and visited your website! The Kokeshi Snow Coat that I purchased from you is wonderful!! She is my favorite!! I feel so lucky to have found you!!
I am so glad I found your website! The kokeshi couple arrived today and they are exceptional. I will definitely check back often. Your dolls are beautifully photographed and well described. I can buy with confidence. Thank you very much for bringing these beautiful dolls to us!
Thank you for the very prompt mailing of the netsuke book we recently ordered. It was perfectly packed and protected to ensure its safe delivery in two days. The book is an excellent reference material and welcome addition to our home library that covers a breadth of Japanese antiques. We look forward to visiting the Mingei Arts website frequently. It is extremely well designed, easily navigated and provides high quality photos of all items. We especially enjoyed the Photos of Japan section and how the images were cropped to accentuate their best qualities. Thank you once again for an excellent transaction and first-time buying experience.
The two ivory netsuke–the sage and the snow monkey–arrived in perfect condition as can be expected from the care with which they were packaged. Again we are overwhelmed by the quality of these netsuke. We were not surprised but extremely pleased that the actual items are even better than the photos suggest. They complement perfectly our collection–in age, workmanship and beauty.
Michael and Robert, you have a wonderful web site for lovers and seekers of Japanese folk art like us, a site well worth browsing frequently to find treasures.
Jacqueline and I have been visiting with and purchasing from Robert and Michael for a number of years now. One of our favorite destinations in Carmel-by-the-Sea was their shop around the corner from a fabulous coffee establishment; early down the highway (fog); coffee (sunshine); enticing Japanese art (Robert and Michael). They are both professional, personable, welcoming, and non-judgemental regarding your background. Their original shop included pieces in a wide variety of price ranges, but the quality was always excellent. We miss them in Carmel, but now they are on-line, and we give them our highest recommendation. Our most recent purchase (days ago) turned out to be even better than we had expected. All the best to them AND TO YOU!
A wonderful and friendly website to explore. These two know their subjects inside and out. I have never found a more comprehensive book on a beloved collection of Japanese Kokeshi dolls. I am a beginning collector at 64 years old and they graciously helped me not only with their book but with their knowledge of the value and identification of my first pieces. It is worth your while to peruse the entire site, Top to bottom. Live vicariously through Japan through their eyes and experiences. The book “Kokeshi, Wooden Treasures of Japan” by Michael Evans and Robert Wolf is well worth having in your collection. Thanks you two!
I have recently purchased as signed copy of Kokeshi Wooden Treasures of Japan.
This is by far one of the most comprehensive and beautifully presented books on Kokehsi Treasures I have seen.It has been written and presented beyond all expectations. I live in Australia and thank Michael and Robert not only for the quick response to my enquiries also for their care in packaging the book so it arrived in perfect condition in only 8 days! It is always a pleasure to deal with a small business with a high level of care and customer service. Thank you for first class service, and top class product.
The beautiful ivory lotus pod arrived in excellent condition, its exquisite detail and superb craftsmanship fulfilling the promise of the photographs on your web site. Difficult as it is to purchase items of this type on=-line, your photographs with the multiple views of the lotus made the decision to buy so much easier. This netsuke is as good as some of the best ones I have purchased in person. As I visit and revisit your site, I find it very difficult to resist buying more, especially now, knowing the quality of your antiques. Fortunately, early on, I disciplined myself to focus on certain types of Japanese antiques.
Thank you so much for this new source for enhancing my collection.
What a wonderful site!
Thank you for providing the background and history of these beautiful art forms. The details, the design and the knowledge you share is refreshingly welcome in todays e-commerce. I look forward to an expanded collection of lacquerware, ceramics and prints on your store. Thank you again for such a beautiful, informative and user friendly website. It is a delight for those of us that appreciate the simple exquisite beauty of Japanese folk art and craft.
Authors Evans and Wolf are long-time devotees of Japanese culture and their twice yearly trips to secure wares for their shop have paid off in their hands-on experience of Kokeshi. Inspired by their love of the form, the book illustrates the wide variety of dolls, roughly categorized as either dento (representing traditional style) and sosaku (encompassing the creative), along with their multiple sub-categories. Details such as the woods used (mizuki, birch, cedar, cherry, maple, elm, camellia), fabrication methodologies, and decorative schemes are highlighted. Threaded throughout the text are oversized photographic images of individual Kokeshi, often with the marks of the makers incorporated into the design. This links visual information to content while honing the connoisseur’s eye.
The overall format of the book is elegantly elongated, as the dolls are, with nuances of design that turn, for example, the recording of marks (of interest to any scholar) into a design feature on each page. Lavishly illustrated with over 300 images of Kokeshi, each element honors the work and captures the inherent winsomeness of Kokeshi dolls.
Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual Exploration offers both a beautiful object in its own right and a clarifying history of the dolls, leavened with nuances of cultural history and custom. For the general reader the book offers many delights, and for the specialist collector of Kokeshi, the images and marks will aid them for years to come.
Your website is attractive and informative, however, I would like to mention a fact that I simply love about your site. When I shop, I like to do so in a fast, efficient manner. Since I live in a very remote area in the country, broadband internet and cell service isn’t available to me, only dial-up internet is offered. Sometimes I just give up when I try to shop on-line because I get tired of waiting for various pages on shopping sites to come up. I find myself going to the sites, like yours, that are well designed, even for people like me on dial-up. I can navigate your site fast and efficiently and do the shopping I desire within record time. Thank you for remembering to include dial-up concerns in your website design. Not everyone has fast internet access available, but we still like to purchase beautiful Japanese antiques.
The site is very beautifully designed and simply accessible as that fits the quality of the items you have. Of course I expected a well designed site, yet it is the combine of image, simple calligraphy and clear, concise text, that permits all users to enter your aesthetic with ease and confidence in your knowledge and vision. Great job!