AN IVORY NETSUKE

Details
AN IVORY NETSUKE
EDO PERIOD (18TH CENTURY)

Modelled in the figure of the warrior Tadanobu at the dramatic moment of seizing a heavy go board to defend himself against two hundred armed opponents, details etched and stained black, himotoshi at the back--2 5/8 in. (6.8 cm.) high, restoration to feet
Provenance
W. L. Behrens

Lot Essay

PUBLISHED
Joly, H. L. The W. L. Behrens Collection. London, 1913-14, no. 1174

Sato no Tadanobu (Shiro Hyoe Tadanobu), valiant vassal of Yoshitsune, is shown at the moment of defending himself against Kajiwara no Kagehisa and two hundred soldiers dispatched to arrest him on behalf of Yoritomo, the half-brother and now enemy of Yoshitsune. After a successful defense of Yoshitsune and repulse of numerous enemies Tadanobu had obtained refuge in the house of a former mistress in Kyoto, Koshiba Oguruma. She betrayed Tadanobu to Kagehisa, her current lover, and facilitated the disarming of Tadanobu and the entrance of Kagehisa and his troops to her house. Realizing the limits of the go board, Tadanobu broke the neck of the guilty woman and committed seppuku.