Japanese Works of Art - 14th November 2018
Lot 871
A JAPANESE WOOD NETSUKE EDO 1603-1868 Carved as Kan'u riding his horse
Estimate £6,000 - £8,000
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Description
A JAPANESE WOOD NETSUKE
EDO 1603-1868
Carved as Kan'u riding his horse, the Chinese general with inlaid eyes and stroking his pointed beard, wearing long robes and holding a guandao war sword decorated with a dragon's head, the horse with its head lowered, unsigned, 8.5cm.
Provenance: purchased from Sydney L. Moss Ltd, by repute.
Kan'u (d.220) or Guan Yu in Chinese was a famous general in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He is known as the epitome of Confucian virtue, loyalty and righteousness and was deified in the 6th century.