GEISHA WALKING WITH AN IVORY GOURD FLASK

Details

GEISHA WALKING WITH AN IVORY GOURD FLASK
Light and dark woods with ivory and lacquer inlays, signed on an inlaid gilt reserve Yukoku

Late 19th Century

2 3/16 in. (5.5 cm.) high

Literature

George Lazarnick, Netsuke and Inro Artists, Reed Publishers, Honolulu, 1982, p. 1254; Raymond Bushell, Netsuke Familiar and Unfamiliar, Weatherhill, New York, 1975, no. 195

Lot Essay

Here a professional beauty (bijin) carries a sake gourd indicating she is going flower viewing. Ueda Reikichi dates Yukoku as "late" meaning between 1868 and the early 20th century. For another example of Yukoku see The Netsuke Handbook, fig. 66.