RAT EATING AN OIL PAPER UMBRELLA
Ivory, unsigned
Mid 19th Century
3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm.) long
Provenance
Lot Essay
The rat, a popular subject in Japanese art, denotes prosperity when it is posed with a bulging sack of rice and famine when it is reduced to gnawing the oil paper covering the umbrella, as in this example.