Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

A JAPANESE NETSUKE OF A SKULL AND SNAKE BY IZUMI SUKEYUKI (1838-1920)
MEIJI ERA, 19TH CENTURY

Realistically carved, the snake emerging from the skull's left eye socket and writhing towards the top, its long body ensnaring the back of the head; the scales realistically rendered and with details stained a darker colour; the skull with a toothy grin and signed to the side Sukeyuki, 4.2cm.

Izumi Sukeyuki (1838–1920), originally an altar carver from Omi Province, pivoted to sculpture after studying under Matsuda Sukenaga. To master his signature memento mori motifs -notably snakes and skulls- Sukeyuki reportedly studied anatomy with a physician and sourced skeletal models from ancient burial mounds. These subjects served as Zen-inspired reminders of impermanence, a theme highly valued by the samurai class.

Cf. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part B, p.823, for a wood netsuke of a skull and snake by Sukenaga (Hayashi collection). Also, see Bonhams New York, Fine Japanese and Korean Works of Art, 22nd March 2023, lot 877 for an okimono of a skull and snake also by Izumi Sukeyuki.

Provenance: from the collection of Mrs Frederica (Freda) Cook (1856-1925), and thence by descent. In 1887, Freda married Wyndham Francis Cook, the younger son of Sir Francis Cook. Sir Francis (1817-1901) was a wealthy textile magnate who notably owned the Gothic palace on Montserrate in Cintra, Portugal (previously subleased by William Beckford), where he created a Japanese garden. He was given the title of Marquess of Montserrate by the King of Portugal in 1886, and first Baronet Cook the same year.

Sir Francis was an avid art collector, amassing one of the most important private art collections of the 19th century, housed primarily at Doughty House in Richmond. His collection featured pieces by renowned artist, including Jan van Eyck's The Three Marys at the Sepulchre, Velázquez's Old Woman Cooking Eggs, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi's Adoration of the Magi, and Rembrandt's Portrait of a Boy. In 1900, he bought a painting that would eventually sell for $450 million at auction: the famous Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci.

When her husband died in 1905, Freda was left £1,224,381 (approximately £189 million today). Her own will made the news in 1925 when the Time published an article entitled "Will as Long as a Novel": it was handwritten, included 95,940 words, 1066 pages, and still holds today the Guinness World Records title for the longest will ever written.