A FINE AND UNUSUAL STAINED IVORY NETSUKE OF A RICE SCOOP
Ivory netsukeJapan19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)The rice scoop has a finely carved ‘woven’ pattern on the backside and a smooth surface, covered in a fine coat of lacquer and stained, on the inside. Three grains of rice are shown, two of them beautifully inlaid in gold and lacquered metal respectively and the central, larger one cleverly forms the peg of the himotoshi.LENGTH c. 4 CMCondition: Very good conditionProvenance: Collection of Sam Felton with CITES permit no. 18US59513C/9Literature: Hokei is listed in ‘Netsuke & Inro Artists and how to read their signatures’ by George Lazarnick, 1981, page 482. The netsuke (not illustrated) is that of a sneezer (self tickler).