Catalog (1366)

19th century lacquered wood netsuke of a a grinning boy with a handled container, attributed to Sansho school. Great face, double inlaid eyes, expert lacquering, beautiful patina. Height 1.8 inches.

Early 19th century boxwood netsuke of seated Thunder God Raiden, his drums that he uses to create thunder behind his back. Wonderful face with a touch of madness, excellent detailing, beautiful patina. There is an old restoration to a section of his scarf under the left arm - see left photo on Enlargement 5. Height 1.5 inches.

19th century tall netsuke carved as a dancing fox standing on its hind legs with its front paws raised to one side and its tail erect. This particular model seems to represent the Inari fox - the benevolent and well disposed creature, being the messenger of the God of rice and harvest, as opposed to the other foxes, which are generally believed to be evil creatures. Strong carving, very clever design, black ink highlights, great expression with a hint of a smile on its face, does not stand on it...

19th century netsuke of a head of a nio - (also called Kongōrikishi) - a wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing at the entrance of a Buddhist temple. Nio are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajrapani, the oldest and most powerful of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon. This particular image represents Naraen Kongo, his mouth is closed representing the vocalization of the sound “N” - the last letter of the Sanskrit alphabet. Excellent carving of his ferocious face, be...

19th century marine ojime (slide bead for tightening the cord going from netsuke to inro) in ball shape carved in the round with Thunder God Raiden running through the clouds beating his drums, thus creating thunder. Beautifully carved, excellent patina, metal liner to the central hole. Diameter 0.61 inches.

19th century marine ojime (slide bead for tightening the cord going from netsuke to inro) in ball shape carved in the round with shishi (Buddhist lion) frolicking among rocks and flowers. Beautifully carved, excellent patina, metal liner to the central hole. Diameter 0.68 inches.

Early 19th century boxwood netsuke of a seated inebriated oni with a sake cup in one hand, and the other raised to his head indicating a hangover. Strong early carving, great face, inlaid pupils and horns, powerful muscular limbs. Himotoshi is formed by his legs, very good patina. Height 2 inches.

Late 19th century netsuke of a peasant seated on a bundle of firewood smoking a pipe and helping to light the pipe of the other man with a rain hat. Old loss to the smoking parts of both pipes, Very good carving, great faces, multiple inlays to their clothes. Signed CHIKUZAN on inlaid lacquer plaque on the bottom - there is an artist who signed with these characters listed in NETSUKE by Neil Davey (p. 453, number 147), but I am not sure it is the one who carved this netsuke. Alternative reading ...

19th century netsuke in a shape of a sake cup made out of half of kurumi (walnut shell) with lacquered inside and silver floret shaped fitting with a loop for hanging. Very clever piece, beautiful warm patina, old stable crack lines, well done old kintsugi (gold lacquer) repair. Length 1.4 inches.

Artist’s proof of two sumo wrestlers titled KOTOZAKURA by Clifton Karhu. The print is perfectly rectangular - any distortions of the paper are from photography. An artist's proof is a print that is set aside as a reference by the artist and usually marked AP rather than being numbered and included in the main edition. Kotozakura Masakatsu (1940 – 2007) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler who made his professional debut in 1959, reaching the top division in 1963. After several years a...

Limited edition print of two sumo wrestlers titled TACHIAI by Clifton Karhu. The print is perfectly rectangular - any distortions of the paper are from photography. The tachi-ai (a combination of two Japanese words that mean “stand” and “meet”) is the initial charge between two sumo wrestlers at the beginning of a bout. Clifton Karhu (1927 – 007) was an American artist who settled in Japan after serving there in the U.S. military during WW II and returning as a missionary. He became in...

Late 19th century netsuke of four blind men fighting, characteristic bumps on their heads. Excellent carving with a lot of detailing, superb faces, subtly incised textile patterns, very pleasant patina. Height 1.46 inches.

19th century netsuke of an octopus wearing a jacket and towering over a monkey seated on an abalone shell. Unusual subject - normally they are wrestling, but here it does not seem to be the case - the monkey is smiling. Superbly carved, excellent faces, wonderful detailing - see the coat of the monkey and abalone texture. Eyes of the octopus are inlaid with black horn. Beautiful wear and patina consistent with age, turning yellow on the back. Comes from the collection of His Royal Highness Princ...

19th century netsuke carved as a Chinese sage holding an oni mask in his hands, and a little boy seated by his feet. Wonderful carving, excellent faces, superb staining, graceful flow of their robes and delicately incised textile patterns. Wonderful warm yellow patina, very pleasant finish to the surface, old age lines. Signed NAOMITSU in irregular reserve on the back - the artist is listed on p. 822 of NETSUKE & INRO ARTISTS AND HOW TO READ THEIR SIGNATURES by George Lazarnick. Height 1 3/8 inc...

18th century netsuke of a standing Dutchman with his mouth open, clutching a long-tailed rooster to his chest with one hand, wearing a hat, long coat, gaiters and shoes. Rare subject - Englebert Kaempfer (doctor with the Dutch East India Company who traveled to Edo in 1691-92) singing for Shogun Tsunayoshi at the annual reception of the foreigners in Edo. Superbly carved to the last detail (see his fingers, claws and feathers of the bird), fantastic face with well captured crazy look, beautifull...

18th century decent size wooden netsuke of standing sennin (Chinese sage) wearing a robe and a leaf cape robe and stroking his long beard. Very strong early carving, wonderfully captured facial expression, beautiful flowing lines of the robe, superb sense of volume. Does not stand of flat surface, large differently sized himotoshi in accordance with the habit of the time, superb patina. Excellent netsuke. Height 3.55 inches (90 mm).

Early 19th century boxwood netsuke of a frog on a folded decaying lotus leaf. Very strong early carving, perfectly captured posture, wonderful representation of shapes and textures. Excellent finish, beautiful wear and patina. Signed KYOGETSU in rectangular reserve on the bottom. Length 2.2 inches.

19th century lacquered netsuke of an actor in a role of a shojo with fan and a ladle. Shojo are mythical creatures living near the sea, and are particularly fond of sake. Great face, superb rendition of Noh theater robe with gold lacquer and iridescent mother of pearl, characteristic red lacquer hair, in excellent condition. Signed SHUGYOKU (can also be read as Hidetama) on the bottom - the artist is discussed on p. 990 of NETSUKE & INRO ARTISTS AND HOW TO READ THEIR SIGNATURES by George Lazarni...