Page 69 - Fine Japanese Netsuke, Sagemono, Oikimono April 29, 2019 Galerie Zacke

DRAGON / TATSU

91
A KYOTO-SCHOOL IVORY NETSUKE OF
A COILED DRAGON
Unsigned, ivory netsuke
Japan, Kyoto, late 18 to early 19 century,
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%DO PERIOD
An early and strong Kyoto-school ivory
netsuke and shaped almost like a thick
manju. The dragon forms a complete circle
with his scaly body emanating flames and
coiling around. He is holding a flaming
zhu pearl in his claws next to his large
and expressive head, with long whiskers.
The eyes are inlaid with dark horn and
the dragon looks bewildered, as if he was
surprised at how well his serpentine body
forms a circle, forming the ideal netsuke
shape. Natural himotoshi.
HEIGHT 2.5 CM, LENGTH 4.3 CM

Condition: Very good condition with an
excellent patina
Provenance: European private collection

90 Estimate EUR 3.000,-
A VERY RARE IVORY NETSUKE OF A DRAGON HATCHING Starting price EUR 1.500,-
FROM AN EGG BY ICHISHIDO MASAKAZU
"Y )CHISHIDO -ASAKAZU IVORY NETSUKE
Japan, Kyoto, late 19 CENTURY -EIJI PERIOD
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A parody of the netsuke motif of the chicken hatching from the
EGG ONLY IN THIS CASE IT IS A lERCE DRAGON tatsu). The most popular
netsuke motif of this variant is the tengu hatching from the egg
known as ‘tengu no tomago’, however in this case it is ‘tatsu no
tamago’. The idea of mythical beings hatching from eggs make for
a very amusing and rare subject in netsuke art. The egg has several
holes, with cracks emerging from them, from which the dragon’s
head, with unusually long barbels, peaks out and through which
its scaly body coils. Two further openings show sharp claws, one
of them used as himotoshi, while in the other the dragon holds a
MAGIC PEARL tama 3IGNED -!3!+!:5 AND )#()3()$/ BESIDE THE
himotoshi. Pupils inlaid in dark horn. A rare and celebrated artist
from the early Meiji period.

7)$4( #-
Condition: Minor age cracks, a small section of the left barbel is
missing - good condition
Provenance: Austrian private collection
Estimate EUR 2.500,-
Starting price EUR 1.250,-

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