A WOOD NETSUKE

SIGNED GYORYU, EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY)

Details

A WOOD NETSUKE
Signed Gyoryu, Edo Period (19th Century)
Of the Daoist immortal Gama Sennin, leaning back on one arm and bracing himself with his other hand grasping his knee, his head thrown back in a grimace as his clothes fall from his shoulder to reveal his emaciated body, his toad companion crouching on his shoulder, katabori, wood, with dark staining and good patina; signed underneath in incised characters Gyoryu
2in. (6.4cm.) high

Provenance

Charles Gillot Collection
George Lazarnick Collection
Dawson Collection

Literature

Galeries Durand-Ruel, Collection Ch. Gillot (8 February 1904), cat. no. 1762
Journal of the International Netsuke Collectors Society, vol. 2 (1974), no. 4, p. 45
George Lazarnick, The Signature Book of Netsuke, Inro and Ojime Artists in Photographs (Honolulu, 1976), p. 171
George Lazarnick, Netsuke and Inro Artists and How to Read Their Signatures (Honolulu, 1982), pp. 79 and 435.
Eskenazi Limited, Japanese Netsuke, Ojime and Inro from the Dawson Collection (London, 1997), cat. no. 10

Exhibited

Honolulu, 1975, Honolulu Academy of Arts

Lot Essay

This is the only netsuke recorded by this artist. Gama Sennin [the toad immortal] is a semi-legendary being of Chinese origin who became popular in the Edo period (1615-1868), largely thanks to imported Chinese illustrated books. While drawing water from a well, Gama Sennin caught a three-legged, white-skinned toad. He tied it up with a cord and it became his constant companion and assistant in various magical arts.

More from Netsuke & Lacquer from the Japanese Department of Eskenazi

View All