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Signed Ivory Netsuke of Priest with Mokugyo

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Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Netsuke and Related: Pre 1920: item # 112556

Please refer to our stock # GK-1348 when inquiring.

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B & C   Antiques
P. O. Box 291
Derby, CT 06418
203-929-7312

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$2,850

Signed Ivory Netsuke of Priest with Mokugyo
A wonderfully carved ivory and wood netsuke in the form of a Buddhist priest sleeping on his hands against a mokugyo gong. Meiji period (1869-1912). The dark wooden gong is intricately inlaid with tsuishu lacquer. It is signed, but we do not recognize the artist. A mokugyo is a small Buddhist temple gong. The Japanese word “mokugyo” means “wooden fish” and first applied to long fish-shaped drums that were hung in Zen temples and struck with wooden poles. The more spherical, hollow wooden gong known today as a mokugyo was brought to Japan in the seventeenth century. Carvings of animals often decorate the handles of these spherical gongs, with a design of two dragons holding a sacred jewel between them especially common. The round hollow body produces a mellow sound when struck. Chanting a Buddhist sutra, a priest strikes the gong with a padded stick for emphasis. This version of the mokugyo is a favorite subject of netsuke carvers. Condition is excellent with wonderful patina. Overall dimensions: 1 ¾” x 1” x 1 3/8” high.


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