Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian (1184)

Early 19th century Tibetan thangka in original mounts depicting Bodhisattva Manjushri seated on a lotus throne holding a flaming sword and a lotus flower with a book on it in his hands, sun and moon among clouds behind him and a pile of offerings in front of the throne. Manjushri’s name means “Gentle Glory”, a flaming sword represents the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality...

19th century netsuke of widely smiling Okame enveloped in her robe and holding a large wooden spoon in her hands, with a removable round bottom revealing the shunga part of the netsuke. Excellent carving, especially the face with its wide smile, wonderful flow of her robe. The dots on her forehead are inlaid with brown horn. Great pattern to the flow of her robe, expert staining, beautiful patina. Wonderful sculpture - all that a good netsuke should be...

Late 18th to early 19th century Kyoto school netsuke of a dog wearing a collar with its head turned back while resting the front of its body on a ball. Strong piece, superb carving to the last detail, fantastic hairwork, beautiful flow to its tail and bumpy spine, large eyes inlaid with dark horn. Wonderful wear and patina consistent with age, great classic netsuke. Height 1 13/16 inches.

19th century netsuke of a puppy wearing a collar with a bell and lying on an old straw sandal. Wonderful quality carving - see its right front paw lifting a straw rope that it is about to chew, its chubby body and perfectly rendered texture of woven straw of the sandal. Signed KAIGYOKUSAI in rectangular reserve on the bottom for Masateru, whose more common signature is KAIGYOKU MADO MASATERU (Kaigyoku’s grandson, Masateru)...

19th century netsuke of a toad, a snake and a slug on rockery with bamboo grass. The subject of the netsuke is sansukumi: a combination of a snake, which eats a toad, which eats a slug, whose slime is poisonous to a snake - thus forming the circle of deaths. Beautiful rendition of textures - the skin of toad and snake, bamboo and rock surfaces. Warm patina and very pleasant wear to the surface, himotoshi (cord openings) are very cleverly carved as irregular holes in the rock...

Early 19th century Kyoto school netsuke of a seated shishi (Buddhist lion) hugging a large ball. Strong early piece, wonderful ferocious face, powerful oversized paws with beautifully defined claws, eyes are inlaid with brown horn, loose ball in its mouth. Excellent hairwork (see its mane and bushy tail), old age lines, deep differently sized himotoshi, beautiful wear and patina consistent with age, pleasantly fat, great sculpture. Height 1 5/8 inches.

Early 19th century Tibetan thangka in original mounts depicting Buddha Amitabha seated on a lotus throne holding an alms bowl in his hands, sun and moon among clouds behind him and a pile of offerings in front of the throne. Amitabha is the Buddha of Infinite Light and presides over Sukhavati (the Western Paradise)...

19th century marine netsuke of three shirauo (whitebait). Classic design, excellent detailed carving, eyes are double inlaid with horn and mother of pearl. Beautiful wear and warm patina, wonderful sheen to the surface. Signed JUGYOKU for Ryukosai Jugyoku on the back - for discussion of this excellent artist see p. 546 of NETSUKE & INRO ARTISTS AND HOW TO READ THEIR SIGNATURES by George Lazarnick. Length 2 .03 inches.

Early to mid- 19th century netsuke representing nio (one of the Buddhist Guardian Kings) sitting on a huge old straw sandal and mending it with a rope. Excellent carving, beautifully stained, wonderful wear and patina. Signed TOMOCHIKA in oval reserve on the bottom - the artist is Tomochika the First as discussed on p. 1148 of NETSUKE & INRO ARTISTS AND HOW TO READ THEIR SIGNATURES by George Lazarnick. Height 1.2 inches.

18th century good size wooden netsuke of a monstrously tall South Seas islander wearing a leaf skirt and holding a fish in one hand, with a man in Chinese robe hardly reaching a knee level of the giant and raising his hand in amazement. Unusual subject, very strong early carving with obvious and expected wear, wonderful face with wide open mouth, superb patina with beautiful warm sheen, deep himotoshi in accordance with the habit of the time. Perfectly balanced - stands on its own...

18th century netsuke of a seated skinny dog wearing a collar with bell and resting one front paw on a cloth ball. Strong early piece, beautifully carved - great face with horn inlaid eyes, wonderful rendition of its spine and ribs, superbly carved paws, netsuke of characteristic 18th century triangular section, beautiful wear and patina (some irregularities on the surface on the darker colored part of its back), old age lines...

Mid- 19th century netsuke depicting Kokusempu Riki (Li Kui in Chinese) - one of the Suikoden heroes - holding a huge axe. Loosely based on historical events, the Chinese book called Shui-Hu-Chuan (Suikoden in Japanese, The Water Margin in English) it tells the story of a group of 108 rebels living at the edge of Liangshan Marsh who helped to protect the poor and oppressed. Kokusempu Riki (Li Kui in Chinese) was a priest, who was expelled from the Hakuryojin Temple...

18th century netsuke of a standing Mongolian archer, a bow in his hands and a quiver with arrows behind his back. Very strong early sculpture, boldly carved, wonderful smiling face, excellent depiction of his military coat. Perfectly balanced - stands on its own on flat surface, netsuke of typical 18th century triangular section. Extraordinary rich patina, deep differently sized himotoshi. Superb netsuke. Height 3 3/4 inches (95 mm).

Early 19th century netsuke of a foreigner with a fierce face sitting next to a large hollowed ball with circular openings in it. The subject may be a play on the concept of sūnyata - "emptiness", “vacuity" or “nothingness”, and the "tenne" ribbon around the body may suggest a Celestial figure. Excellent face, superb depiction of limbs and clothes, eyes are inlaid with black horn, beautiful wear and patina...

Late 19th century wooden netsuke of a monkey wearing a short jacket and holding a peach as it protectively leans covering a woven basket containing more fruit. Wonderful quality carving with extraordinary face, limbs and hairwork, perfectly captured spirit of the scene. Eyes are double inlaid, beautiful differentiated staining and patina. Signed SOKO for Morita Soko on the bottom - for a lengthy discussion of this extraordinary artist from the So School see p...

19th century ebony netsuke of a crouching rat with its young climbing on mother’s back. Wonderfully captured interaction, superb detailed carving, very beautiful patina, in excellent condition. Length 2.51 inches.

19th century boxwood netsuke of a standing blind masseur leaning on his staff and with both of his feet on one geta (clog sandal) while he is pulling out a large rock lodged in the base of his other geta. Rather unusual subject, the character easily recognizable by a habitual bump on his head and oversized blind eye inlaid with horn. Perfectly captured mood of the scene, great detailing of his face and clothing, rich warm patina with beautiful staining, in excellent condition...

Early 19th century Tibetan / Mongolian thangka in original mounts depicting Tserendug - the White Old Man - Lord of the earth and water, protector of all living things. Rare icon, Tserendug as the patron of the plant and animal world is one of the ancient chthonic deities incorporated into Buddhist iconography and is associated with Buddha Amitayus...