TEIJI: A MASTERFUL LACQUERED AND CERAMIC-INLAID MANJU OF DARUMA BEHIND IRON BARS
TEIJI: A MASTERFUL LACQUERED AND CERAMIC-INLAID MANJU OF DARUMA BEHIND IRON BARS
By Teiji, signed Teiji 貞二
Japan, Nagoya, mid-19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
The netsuke of manju shape and lacquered in roiro with iro-e hiramaki-e, as well as inlaid with mother-of-pearl and horn, depicting a moveable ceramic Daruma seated behind iron bars — an allusion to a brothel, which the Bodhidharma reputedly frequented. The ceramic Daruma dressed in an red robe with a cowl covering his head, his face carved with an impish expression, caught red-handed, peering through the confines of a brothel with ishime bars, overgrown with leafy vines. The reverse with two himotoshi and signed TEIJI.
DIAMETER 4.3 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear.
Provenance: Ex-collection Richard R. Silverman. 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.
Teiji, pupil of Seiji, was originally a potter and made unique netsuke with ceramic inlays. The quality of his ceramic inlay is arguably unequaled in netsuke. Teiji made several netsuke depicting octopi, most like the one cited in the literature comparison. The present model appears to be unique.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related lacquered and ceramic-inlaid manju of an octopus in a pot, by Teiji, at Galerie Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 16 April 2021, Vienna, lot 318 (sold for EUR 6,100). Compare a related lacquered and pottery-inlaid manju netsuke of Daruma inside a cave, by Kan, at Galerie Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 4 November 2022, Vienna, lot 108 (sold for EUR 2,860).
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TEIJI: A MASTERFUL LACQUERED AND CERAMIC-INLAID MANJU OF DARUMA BEHIND IRON BARS
By Teiji, signed Teiji 貞二
Japan, Nagoya, mid-19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
The netsuke of manju shape and lacquered in roiro with iro-e hiramaki-e, as well as inlaid with mother-of-pearl and horn, depicting a moveable ceramic Daruma seated behind iron bars — an allusion to a brothel, which the Bodhidharma reputedly frequented. The ceramic Daruma dressed in an red robe with a cowl covering his head, his face carved with an impish expression, caught red-handed, peering through the confines of a brothel with ishime bars, overgrown with leafy vines. The reverse with two himotoshi and signed TEIJI.
DIAMETER 4.3 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear.
Provenance: Ex-collection Richard R. Silverman. 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.
Teiji, pupil of Seiji, was originally a potter and made unique netsuke with ceramic inlays. The quality of his ceramic inlay is arguably unequaled in netsuke. Teiji made several netsuke depicting octopi, most like the one cited in the literature comparison. The present model appears to be unique.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related lacquered and ceramic-inlaid manju of an octopus in a pot, by Teiji, at Galerie Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 16 April 2021, Vienna, lot 318 (sold for EUR 6,100). Compare a related lacquered and pottery-inlaid manju netsuke of Daruma inside a cave, by Kan, at Galerie Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 4 November 2022, Vienna, lot 108 (sold for EUR 2,860).
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
