Lot Essay
The hare wears the clothes of a boatman and carries a rowing oar, alluding to the popular fairy tale Kachi kachi yama where the hare tricks the badger into believing he would row the boat to the moon.
Details
HARE AND CRESCENT MOON
Ivory ryusa netsuke, sealed on side Kozan
19th Century
1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) diameter
Ivory ryusa netsuke, sealed on side Kozan
19th Century
1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) diameter
Literature
George Lazarnick, Netsuke and Inro Artists, Reed Publishers, Honolulu, 1982, p. 681 illustrated; Raymond Bushell, Netsuke Familiar and Unfamiliar, Weatherhill, New York, 1975, fig. 569