A JAPANESE WOOD OKIMONO OF JUROJIN

A JAPANESE WOOD OKIMONO OF JUROJIN
TAISHO ERA, 20TH CENTURY

The God of Good Fortune depicted standing, holding his gnarled staff in one hand and a peach in the other, with long loose robes and a cap covering his elongated forehead; signed Kazuaki saku at the back for Hoshi Kazuaki / Ichimei (act. c.1917), 33.5cm; in a tomobako wood box, titled Jurojin no zo (A statue of Jurojin) at the front and with a long inscription at the back of the sliding door reading 'This was made by Mr Hoshi Kazuaki / Ichimei of Osaka in Taisho 6 (1917), on 31^st of the tenth month, to celebrate Tenchosetsu, the Emperor’s long life, a wood carving of God Jurojin, wishing to celebrate a long and felicitous life like Jurojin, inscribed by Niwayama Takemasa'. (2)

The inscription on the box was written by the collector, Niwayama Takemasa (1843-1918), a scholar, Shinto priest, and an official retainer who served the lord of Himeji Domain, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture.