AN IVORY NETSUKE WITH NARIHIRA CROSSING THE TAMAGAWA RIVER Japan, 19th century

AN IVORY NETSUKE WITH NARIHIRA CROSSING THE TAMAGAWA RIVER
Japan, 19th century

The netsuke depicts the noble poet Ariwara no Narihira (825-880) riding a horse with three young servants around, a wooden hat, the himotoshi on the base, signed 鶯里軒 (Ōriken, “The nightingale village workshop”) within a reserve on the base.

2,5 x 3,1 cm

Provenance: private collection in Rome.

The signature on the base corresponds to Rakumin Jitokusai, an artist active in Kyoto in the 19th century, a pupil of Rantei and specialized in the carving of netsuke with animals.
Two very similar netsuke – signed Rakumin - are registered in the Meinetzhagen Card Index; another is published in Neil Davey, Netsuke. A comprehensive study based on the M.T. Hindson Collection, London 1974, n. 305.
Published in the “International Netsuke Society Journal”, volume 42, n. 4, winter 2022.

* The netsuke comes with a CITES certificate.