A WOOD NETSUKE OF BENKEI SLEEPING ON A CONCH (HORAGAI)
A WOOD NETSUKE OF BENKEI SLEEPING ON A CONCH (HORAGAI)
Unsigned
Japan, late 18th to early 19th century, Edo period (1612-1868)
The oversized conch (horagai) naturalistically rendered with fine stippling and smooth and rough sections, bearing the weight of the exhausted Benkei who rests his tired head on his folded hands. Benkei is depicted in a typical manner, clothed in the robes of a yamabushi monk and wearing a tokin cap surmounted with a gilt metal stud. The conch is fitted with an antler and ebony wood mouthpiece. A well-hollowed himotoshi to the side exiting the mouth of the conch.
LENGTH 6.2 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and natural age cracks.
Provenance: Collection Gabor Orszagh, Budapest, Hungary.
Horagai are large conch shells, usually from Charonia tritonis, that have been used as trumpets in Japan for many centuries. The instrument has served a number of purposes throughout Japanese history and special schools still teach students to play the traditional music associated with the conch. Unlike most shell trumpets from other parts of the world which produce only one pitch, the Japanese horagai can produce three or five different notes. The different pitches are achieved using a bronze or wooden mouthpiece attached to the apex of the shell's spire. At freezing temperatures (often encountered in the mountainous regions of Japan) the lips may freeze to the metal surface, so wooden or bamboo mouthpieces are used.
The yamabushi were renegade mountain priests of the Shingon Tantric Buddhist sect, who used the conch to communicate their movements in the mountain wilderness.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related wood netsuke of Benkei on a horagai, dated early 19th century, at Lempertz, Asian Art, 9 December 2022, Cologne, lot 462 (sold for EUR 3,276).
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A WOOD NETSUKE OF BENKEI SLEEPING ON A CONCH (HORAGAI)
Unsigned
Japan, late 18th to early 19th century, Edo period (1612-1868)
The oversized conch (horagai) naturalistically rendered with fine stippling and smooth and rough sections, bearing the weight of the exhausted Benkei who rests his tired head on his folded hands. Benkei is depicted in a typical manner, clothed in the robes of a yamabushi monk and wearing a tokin cap surmounted with a gilt metal stud. The conch is fitted with an antler and ebony wood mouthpiece. A well-hollowed himotoshi to the side exiting the mouth of the conch.
LENGTH 6.2 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and natural age cracks.
Provenance: Collection Gabor Orszagh, Budapest, Hungary.
Horagai are large conch shells, usually from Charonia tritonis, that have been used as trumpets in Japan for many centuries. The instrument has served a number of purposes throughout Japanese history and special schools still teach students to play the traditional music associated with the conch. Unlike most shell trumpets from other parts of the world which produce only one pitch, the Japanese horagai can produce three or five different notes. The different pitches are achieved using a bronze or wooden mouthpiece attached to the apex of the shell's spire. At freezing temperatures (often encountered in the mountainous regions of Japan) the lips may freeze to the metal surface, so wooden or bamboo mouthpieces are used.
The yamabushi were renegade mountain priests of the Shingon Tantric Buddhist sect, who used the conch to communicate their movements in the mountain wilderness.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related wood netsuke of Benkei on a horagai, dated early 19th century, at Lempertz, Asian Art, 9 December 2022, Cologne, lot 462 (sold for EUR 3,276).
