ISSHINSAI: A HUMOROUS WOOD NETSUKE OF TANUKI WITH A MAGICAL DARUMA DOLL SCROTUM
ISSHINSAI: A HUMOROUS WOOD NETSUKE OF TANUKI WITH A MAGICAL DARUMA DOLL SCROTUM
By Isshinsai Masanao, signed Isshinsai 一心齋
Japan, Yamada, Ise province, early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Published:
Joly, Henri L. (1966) W.L. Behrens Collection: Netsuke and Japanese Carvings, Part 1, no. 3143, illustrated on pl. XXXVI.
Davey, Neil K. (1974) Netsuke: A Comprehensive Study Based on the M.T. Hindson Collection, p. 200, no. 608.
The shapeshifting creature sitting on its hindquarters and sensitively leaning on its magical scrotum which has, rather amusingly, transformed into an expressively carved Daruma doll detailed with minutely incised hair. The eyes of Daruma looking down beneath furrowed brows, appearing to question its existence, its mouth open revealing a movable tongue. The tanuki's fur is minutely incised and Daruma's eyes are inlaid with dark horn pupils. Two himotoshi to the side of the tanuki, and signed ISSHINSAI.
HEIGHT 4 cm
Condition: Good condition with typical wear, a few tiny nicks here and there, and a small chip to the ear and foot of the tanuki.
Provenance: Collection of W. L. Behrens (1861-1913). Ex-collection W. Guest, acquired from the above. Collection of M.T. Hindson, acquired from the above. Sotheby's London, 9 July 1969, lot 643. Christie's New York, 29 June 1981, lot 326. Collection of Richard R. Silverman, acquired from the above. Richard R. Silverman (1932-2019) was a renowned Asian art collector with one of the largest private collections of netsuke outside of Japan. He lived in Tokyo between 1964 and 1979 and began to collect netsuke there in 1968. From the 1970s onward, he wrote and lectured about netsuke and was an Asian art consultant for Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams. His gift of 226 ceramic netsuke to the Toledo Museum of Art constitutes perhaps the largest public collection of these miniature clay sculptures in the world. After moving to California, Silverman became a member of the Far Eastern Art Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1984. In 1993, he joined LACMA's Executive Board. He served on the board of directors for the International Society of Appraisers from 1986 to 1994 and served nine years as chair for the City of West Hollywood Fine Arts Commission. Richard Silverman was posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his decades-long promotion of Japanese culture.
The tanuki possesses magical powers and can change forms, sometimes into Buddhist monks; they are jovial, but also dangerous, as they have been known to suffocate hunters with their enormous scrotums. The present netsuke showing the tanuki with a Daruma doll scrotum appears to be a unique creation by the Masanao family and only one other netsuke of this type is known so far, signed Masanao, now in a German private collection.
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ISSHINSAI: A HUMOROUS WOOD NETSUKE OF TANUKI WITH A MAGICAL DARUMA DOLL SCROTUM
By Isshinsai Masanao, signed Isshinsai 一心齋
Japan, Yamada, Ise province, early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Published:
Joly, Henri L. (1966) W.L. Behrens Collection: Netsuke and Japanese Carvings, Part 1, no. 3143, illustrated on pl. XXXVI.
Davey, Neil K. (1974) Netsuke: A Comprehensive Study Based on the M.T. Hindson Collection, p. 200, no. 608.
The shapeshifting creature sitting on its hindquarters and sensitively leaning on its magical scrotum which has, rather amusingly, transformed into an expressively carved Daruma doll detailed with minutely incised hair. The eyes of Daruma looking down beneath furrowed brows, appearing to question its existence, its mouth open revealing a movable tongue. The tanuki's fur is minutely incised and Daruma's eyes are inlaid with dark horn pupils. Two himotoshi to the side of the tanuki, and signed ISSHINSAI.
HEIGHT 4 cm
Condition: Good condition with typical wear, a few tiny nicks here and there, and a small chip to the ear and foot of the tanuki.
Provenance: Collection of W. L. Behrens (1861-1913). Ex-collection W. Guest, acquired from the above. Collection of M.T. Hindson, acquired from the above. Sotheby's London, 9 July 1969, lot 643. Christie's New York, 29 June 1981, lot 326. Collection of Richard R. Silverman, acquired from the above. Richard R. Silverman (1932-2019) was a renowned Asian art collector with one of the largest private collections of netsuke outside of Japan. He lived in Tokyo between 1964 and 1979 and began to collect netsuke there in 1968. From the 1970s onward, he wrote and lectured about netsuke and was an Asian art consultant for Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams. His gift of 226 ceramic netsuke to the Toledo Museum of Art constitutes perhaps the largest public collection of these miniature clay sculptures in the world. After moving to California, Silverman became a member of the Far Eastern Art Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1984. In 1993, he joined LACMA's Executive Board. He served on the board of directors for the International Society of Appraisers from 1986 to 1994 and served nine years as chair for the City of West Hollywood Fine Arts Commission. Richard Silverman was posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his decades-long promotion of Japanese culture.
The tanuki possesses magical powers and can change forms, sometimes into Buddhist monks; they are jovial, but also dangerous, as they have been known to suffocate hunters with their enormous scrotums. The present netsuke showing the tanuki with a Daruma doll scrotum appears to be a unique creation by the Masanao family and only one other netsuke of this type is known so far, signed Masanao, now in a German private collection.
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Time, Location
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