A TALL STAG ANTLER SASHI NETSUKE OR HANDLE ATTRIBUTED TO ISSHŌSAI HAKUMIN

A TALL STAG ANTLER SASHI NETSUKE OR HANDLE ATTRIBUTED TO ISSHŌSAI HAKUMIN
MEIJI ERA, C.1870

Delicately carved with a sinuous rain dragon, its smooth body and mane curling into shapes reminiscent of scrolling clouds, coiling around a nyoi sceptre; the head of the staff modelled as a reishi fungus, the artist masterfully using the natural shape of the antler, 13cm.

Cf. P Moss, Kokusai: The Genius and stag-antler carving in Japan, vol. III, pp.174-175, no. 441, for another stag antler piece attributed to Hakumin.