Page 43 - Bonhams Katchen Collection of Netsukes

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A TORTOISESHELL NETSUKE OF A HORSE A LARGE WOOD NETSUKE OF A GOAT
AND SPIDER’S WEB By Kigetsu, late 18th/early 19th century
Late 18th/early 19th century Signed Kigetsu.
Unsigned. 6.4cm (2½in) wide.
5.4cm (2 1/8in) wide.
£3,000 - 4,000
£600 - 800 JPY440,000 - 580,000
JPY87,000 - 120,000 US$4,100 - 5,500
US$830 - 1,100
木彫根付 羊 銘「亀月」 18世紀後期/19世紀前期
鼈甲彫根付 蜘蛛の糸と走る馬 無銘 18世紀後期/19世紀前期
Published:
Provenance: Katchen, N7, vol.2, p.231, no.K119.
Eskenazi Ltd., 1968.
Lying with its head raised and turned to the right, its tail passing over
Published: the right flank and its legs drawn in for compactness, the slightly worn
Katchen, N7, vol.2, p.455, no.K160. wood with a good patina and the pupils inlaid.

Of somewhat flattened form, carved in relief with a galloping horse
beneath an openwork spider’s web stretched over the branch of a
flowering plum tree which continues on relief on the reverse.

For a very similar example, see Davey, MTH, p.432, no.1294.

The origins of this unusual motif can be traced to Tsurezuregusa (Essays
in Idleness), a celebrated collection of essays written in the fourteenth
century by the priest Kenko, who wrote approvingly of the restrained
style of the uniforms formerly worn by guards at the Kamo horse races,
consisting of an image of a horse covered by a garment painted with
spiders’ webs. This combination was taken up in dramatic works such
as the Noh play Kanawa (The Iron Crown) and the Kyogen comedy
Kumonusubito (The Spider Thief). In Kanawa, a woman despairs of her
cheating husband, exclaiming that even if she hitched his horse to a
spider’s web, she could never trust such a faithless man (the recitation
of a verse on the same theme forms the climax to Kumonusubito). This
ambiguous sentiment later evolved into a more straightforward netsuke
design, with the implication that any attempt to rein in human passion is
akin to restraining a galloping horse with a flimsy spider’s web.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. THE JULIUS AND ARLETTE KATCHEN COLLECTION: PART III | 41