Japan. Meiji period, middle 19th c. Ivory, in undercut and very detailed relief with fine engraving, eyes painted black. A torii gate with an plaque names the shrine as one of Tenmang?. Among the more than sixty persons strolling under pines and flowering cherry trees a falconer and other samurai, merchants, jugglers and musicians, gamblers and mongers for tea tools, insects and fans are found. Many children are playing between the adults. One of the persons is Suguwara Michizane (845-903) himself, holding a flowering plum branch and a folded letter. He is deified and worshiped in Tenmang? shrines as the god of scholarship. Height 47cm, ? bottom 16.3cm, top 15cm. Signed on an inlaid red lacquer plate: Kaikaya S?sh?. Condition A/B.
Provenance: -German private collection. -Attached a collector's label with the no 22635.
Please note that objects made of ivory, rhinoceros horn and turtle shell, due to Cites regulations can only be sold within the European Community. At present the export in third countries is prohibited.