Project Description
Stag Antler Sashi-Netsuke in the form of a Sceptre by Ozaki Kokusai
Carved as a stylised reishi fungus, its cap carved with a stylised rain dragon in such a way as to also suggest a comic abstract face, a small shoot providing a pleasing himotoshi, and the base pierced with an inome (stylised boar’s eye)
Signed: takeda minamoto nyudo kokusai zo. Tokyo. Circa 1870
Length: 21.3 cm
The inscription is thought to indicate a connection between the artist and the powerful Takeda family
Provenance:
W.W. Winkworth
Mark T. Hindson, sold in his sale at Sotheby’s London, 11th March 1969, lot 998
Melvin and Betty Jahss, sold in her sale at Sotheby’s London, 13th June 1991, lot 61
Since in a private collection, Milan
Literature:
Neil K. Davey, Netsuke [Hindson collection], no. 524
Paul G. Moss and Max Rutherston, More Things in Heaven and Earth, no. 72
Paul G. Moss, Kokusai The Genius, vol. II, no. 317
MR3923