A TOKYO SCHOOL INLAID SPERM WHALE TOOTH NETSUKE OF HOTEI SCRATCHING HIS BACK BY GYOKUZAN
Sperm whale tooth with inlaysJapan, Tokyolate 19th centuryThe popular lucky god Hotei is seated, bald, with one leg tucked in and a naked protruding belly. The garment decorations are inlaid with horn and mother-of-pearl, showing star-shaped motifs; the himotoshi on the reverse are also set with horn. He is jovially scratching his back and his well-carved expression mirrors his excitement. Hotei, literally “Cloth Sack”, is shown here without his sack or companion boy and appears more like the high priest Osho, as he is also known. Hotei is said to be an incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya, the Future Buddha. Signature GYOKUZAN on a small inlaid red lacquer plate.HEIGHT 3.9 CMCondition: Good and complete condition; age cracksProvenance: Russian private collection