DOUBLE GOURD FLASK | Christie's

DOUBLE GOURD FLASK

Details

DOUBLE GOURD FLASK
Wood, with applied green and red lacquer, carved with a string bag enclosing the flask with ivory stopper and red lacquer cord, sealed on an inlaid gilt cartouche Bairyu [Fuzui Tokoku]
(1846-1931)
1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm.) long

Literature

Raymond Bushell, Collectors' Netsuke, Weatherhill, New York, 1971, no. 221, p. 147, illustrated; Raymond Bushell, Netsuke, An Exhibition of Netsuke from the Raymond Bushell Collection, Mikimoto, Tokyo, 1979

Lot Essay

Tokoku is a Tokyo School artist known for his work in ivory or wood inlaid with various colored materials. Normally he signs his work on an inlaid metal seal Bairyu as in this example. This is a fine example of Tokoku's ability to master the extreme technical difficulties of a subject to create an effect of seeming simplicity and elegant restraint.