Asian Art II - 18th May 2016
Lot 899
λ A JAPANESE WOOD AND IVORY NETSUKE 19TH CENTURY Carved as a blind masseur holding a...
Estimate £1,500 - £2,500
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Description
λ A JAPANESE WOOD AND IVORY NETSUKE
19TH CENTURY
Carved as a blind masseur holding a strengthening stone, a tumour on the back of his head, his lifeless eye and teeth inlaid with ivory, signed Gyokkei in an ivory tablet at the base, 3.5cm.
Cf. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part A, pp.84-85 for a biography of Gyokkei and two other examples of blind masseurs by the same carver.