λ A Japanese stag antler kiseru-zutsu 19th century

λ A Japanese stag antler kiseru-zutsu 19th century, the pipe case of otoshi-zutsu form, carved with a small oni holding a hammer and climbing on a life-size spanner, signed Koku (Kokusai), 20.9cm.

Provenance: from the collection of George Henderson (1854-1934), and thence by descent.

Cf. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part A, pp.368-373, for a biography of Kokusai and a similar kiseru-zutsu with an oni on a spanner by the same artist.