Japanese Works of Art - 27th July 2021
Lot 443
A JAPANESE LACQUERED WOOD HAKO NETSUKE OF AN AWABI SHELL
Estimate £400 - £600 | Hammer £3000
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Description
A JAPANESE LACQUERED WOOD HAKO NETSUKE OF AN AWABI SHELL
MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY
The shell realistically carved with barnacles and other incrustations rendered in green porcelain, the underside and interior in gold nashiji and maki-e lacquer, the flesh of the mollusc with a two character signature for Keisai and a red seal mark for tsugu, 4.8cm max. (2)
Cf. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part A, p.320, for another netsuke by Keisai. The author mentions that Keisai used the same wood as artists Joso and Somi (Soko), suggesting a possible connection between Keisai and the So School of netsuke carving.