A JAPANESE WOOD SASHI NETSUKE OF A HYRIU (BIRD-DRAGON)

£2,000 - £3,000

£2,540

A JAPANESE WOOD SASHI NETSUKE OF A HYRIU (BIRD-DRAGON)
EDO PERIOD, 18TH/19TH CENTURY

Its beak wide open and with fire wisps engulfing its legs, its tail bifurcated; unsigned, 12.8cm.

Provenance: formerly the collection of Miss Elizabeth Augusta Grosvenor Guest (1879-1960), grand-daughter of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster (1795-1869), and grand-daughter of Lady Charlotte Guest (later Schreiber, 1812-95), and thence by descent. Sold in these rooms, Japanese Works of Art, 27th July 2021, lot 449.

This netsuke is reminiscent of another dragon by Gyokutei in the collection of Shiro Akai, illustrated in R Bushell, Netsuke Familiar and Unfamiliar, fig. 585 and G Lazarnick, Netsuke and Inro Artists, p.432.