Japanese Works of Art - 27th July 2021
Lot 453
THREE JAPANESE WOOD NETSUKE
Estimate £500 - £1,000 | Hammer £600
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Description
THREE JAPANESE WOOD NETSUKE
MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY
The first carved as the Chinese General Kan'u clutching his beard whilst holding his guandao halberd behind his back, signed Shuko / Kanemitsu; the second depicting a karako trying to lift a large sack, signed Bokusai; the last netsuke carved as Shoki the demon queller attempting to close the lid on a barrel containing an oni, their eyes inlaid in horn, unsigned; 6.3cm max. (3)
Provenance: from the collection of a lady of title, and thence by descent. See Japanese Works of Art, 1st July 2020, for the first part of this private collection of netsuke sold in these rooms.
Cf. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part B, p.772, where a netsuke of Kan'u by Shuko is illustrated, possibly this very piece. Also, see Part A, p. 15, where a netsuke of a boy with a large sack by Bokusai is mentioned.