Page 88 - 2021 March 16th Japanese and Korean Art, Christie's New York City
P. 88
63 A CARVED WOOD SCULPTURE OF A STRAW HORSE 64 A CARVED WOOD SCULPTURE OF GOAT
20TH CENTURY, SIGNED MASATOSHI TO(NAKAMURA MASATOSHI; 1915-2001) EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY), SIGNED MASANAO
Carved as a netsukeof a male straw horse with Dynamically carved as a sculpture of a
five legs holding a double-gourd recumbent goat with curled horns, the incised
2 in. (5.1 cm.) long signature on underside
2¡ in. (6 cm.) long
$3,000-5,000
$6,000-8,000
The straw horse, called shoryuma(Horse spirit) The double-gourd is associated with the Chinese story
is auspicious, symbolizing successful harvests and of Chokaro Sennin(Zhang Guolao), one of the Eight
prosperity. Often seen at the front doors of house Daoist Immortals, who carried his magical horse. The
welcoming the spirit of ancestors during obonfestival, proverb, hyotan kara koma(Horse emerging from a
people arrange to display straw horses as a vehicle for double-gourd) is a metaphor to describe ‘unexpected
ancestors. things always happen’.
