AN EXCELLENT EBONY WOOD AND IVORY NETSUKE OF KIYOHIME BY TANAKA MINKO (1735 – 1816)
Ebony wood with ivory inlay netsukeJapan, Tsulate 18th – early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)Published: Illustrated in The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum Part A, Frederick Meinertzhagen (edited by George Lazarnick), New York, 1986, page 511The netsuke is carved in a dark ebony wood depicting Kiyohime as a serpentine monster pursuing the priest Anchin in rage and wrapping her scaly body around the temple bell in Dojo-ji, in which Anchin is hiding. The priest Anchin fell in love with the once beautiful Kiyohime, but refrained from his passions, escaping from her which made Kiyohime transform into a dragon-like monster due to her rage. In her rage she belched a fire so great it not only melted the temple bell but also killed Anchin. The extraordinarily well carved face, horns and claws are inlaid in ivory. The hair and scaly body are finely carved and expressive. The handle of the bell is removable and when turned shows three different expressions of Anchin, which can be seen through an opening of the bell which Kiyohime is looking through, coloured in red, blue and white. The red one is probably Anchin being roasted. Himotoshi, one ringed with ivory, on the underside next to the signature MINKO with kakihan.Minko is listed in the Shoken Kisho and is undoubtly one of the greatest netsuke artists that have ever lived.HEIGHT c. 4.5 CMCondition: Excellent conditionProvenance: Collection of Sam Felton with CITES permit no. 18US59513C/9Auction comparison: Compare to a similar model sold at Christie’s, Japanese and Korean Art, New York, 18 September 2002, lot 235