Japanese Works of Art - 12th November 2024
Lot 404
A TALL JAPANESE SAISHIKI (PAINTED WOOD) NETSUKE BY KANO KOTARO TESSAI (1845-1925)
Estimate £2,000 - £3,000 | Hammer £1000
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
A TALL JAPANESE SAISHIKI (PAINTED WOOD) NETSUKE BY KANO KOTARO TESSAI (1845-1925)
TAISHO ERA, 1922
Carved in hinoki (cypress wood) in the style of Yoshimura Shuzan, the sage is depicted standing holding his staff before him, wearing loose robes opening to reveal his emaciated ribcage, with remnants of polychromy; a three-character signature at the back reading as Tetsu-sai with kao, 12.5cm; together with a tomobako wood box, with an inscription written by the artist commenting on his attempt to copy Shuzan, signed 'Tessai, a man of Tao, two days after the Mid-Autumn, in Taisho 11 (1922, the year of Mizunoe-Inu)', with kao and seal Ko for Kotaro. (2)
Provenance: from the Mark and Elizabeth Harding Collection, South Africa.
Cf. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part B, pp. 865-66 for other pieces by Tessai. The author mentions that he was appointed professor of carving at the Tokyo Art School when it opened in 1887.