5th Dec, 2025 10:00
Fine Japanese Art
192
A SUPERB AND RARE PAIR OF STONE INARI FOXES (KITSUNE), EDO PERIOD
€7,500
€15,000
A buyer’s premium of 30.00% (including VAT) applies to the hammer price of this lot if your bid is successful.
Japan, c. 1800, Edo period (1615-1868)
Superbly carved, each Inari fox (kitsune) seated on its haunches atop an integral rectangular pedestal, its forelimbs holding its slender body upright, the bushy tail erect, and face turned to one side. One kitsune with a menacing expression, its mouth slightly ajar, revealing sharp teeth, its companion similarly modeled with a grim expression and tight smile.
HEIGHT 62 cm, LENGTH 37 cm (each)
WEIGHT 64.1 kg and 61.1 kg
Provenance: With Midori Gallery, Miami, Florida. From the estate of Andrew Cunningham Ware, acquired from the above in 2014. A copy of an invoice from Midori Gallery, addressed to Andrew Ware, dated 8 April 2014, confirming the dating above, and stating a purchase price of USD 12,840 or approx. EUR 15,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. The Midori Gallery was opened by Sachi Wagner and her husband in 1971 and has been a celebrated source of antique Asian cultural artifacts for over half a century. In the beginning it was used as a bookstore specializing in East Asian culture, art, and philosophy, but slowly developed into an antique shop focusing on Far Eastern works of art. Sachi Wagner is an authority in Asian antiques with more than 50 years of experience, specializing in China and Japan with elements of Korea, Tibet, India, and Southeast Asia. She has garnered a premier collection of paintings and screens, textiles, porcelain and archaic ceramics, sculpture, furniture, netsuke, folk art, and other artifacts. Andrew Cunningham Ware (1945–2024) was an avid scholar and passionate amateur Egyptologist whose lifelong fascination with the ancient world led him to study under the distinguished French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches Noblecourt. Dividing his time between France and South Florida, Ware cultivated a remarkably diverse collection that reflected his wide-ranging intellectual curiosity—encompassing ancient Egyptian artifacts, historical documents from the French and Russian Revolutions, and a refined selection of Japanese art.
Condition: Excellent condition with old wear and natural imperfections. Small chips, few nicks, encrustations, and signs of weathering and erosion.
The Japanese fox (kitsune) is believed to have magical powers. It has the ability to bewitch people and cast spells upon them. Foxes were supposed to live to a great age and to be able to assume human form on reaching one hundred, when they might appear in the guise of a priest or a woman. Possession by a fox (kitsune-tsuki) was a nervous disorder once common in Japan. The person possessed hears and understands everything that the fox inside says, or thinks, and the two often engage in a loud and violent dispute, the fox speaking in a voice altogether different from that of the individual. The spirits of the dead ride upon foxes, and they are said to haunt graves; they are also responsible for the foxfire (kitsune-bi) or will-o’-the wisp.
Among kitsune, it is the white fox - messenger of Dakiniten, later identified with Inari, the deity of cereals and harvest - that holds particular importance. Countless shrines dedicated to Inari were erected across Japan, often flanked by pairs of fox statues, many depicted holding a pearl or a key in their mouths. Worshipers visited these shrines to pray for wealth and prosperity, figures such as the present example may have flanked the entrance of such a temple complex.
Japan, c. 1800, Edo period (1615-1868)
Superbly carved, each Inari fox (kitsune) seated on its haunches atop an integral rectangular pedestal, its forelimbs holding its slender body upright, the bushy tail erect, and face turned to one side. One kitsune with a menacing expression, its mouth slightly ajar, revealing sharp teeth, its companion similarly modeled with a grim expression and tight smile.
HEIGHT 62 cm, LENGTH 37 cm (each)
WEIGHT 64.1 kg and 61.1 kg
Provenance: With Midori Gallery, Miami, Florida. From the estate of Andrew Cunningham Ware, acquired from the above in 2014. A copy of an invoice from Midori Gallery, addressed to Andrew Ware, dated 8 April 2014, confirming the dating above, and stating a purchase price of USD 12,840 or approx. EUR 15,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. The Midori Gallery was opened by Sachi Wagner and her husband in 1971 and has been a celebrated source of antique Asian cultural artifacts for over half a century. In the beginning it was used as a bookstore specializing in East Asian culture, art, and philosophy, but slowly developed into an antique shop focusing on Far Eastern works of art. Sachi Wagner is an authority in Asian antiques with more than 50 years of experience, specializing in China and Japan with elements of Korea, Tibet, India, and Southeast Asia. She has garnered a premier collection of paintings and screens, textiles, porcelain and archaic ceramics, sculpture, furniture, netsuke, folk art, and other artifacts. Andrew Cunningham Ware (1945–2024) was an avid scholar and passionate amateur Egyptologist whose lifelong fascination with the ancient world led him to study under the distinguished French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches Noblecourt. Dividing his time between France and South Florida, Ware cultivated a remarkably diverse collection that reflected his wide-ranging intellectual curiosity—encompassing ancient Egyptian artifacts, historical documents from the French and Russian Revolutions, and a refined selection of Japanese art.
Condition: Excellent condition with old wear and natural imperfections. Small chips, few nicks, encrustations, and signs of weathering and erosion.
The Japanese fox (kitsune) is believed to have magical powers. It has the ability to bewitch people and cast spells upon them. Foxes were supposed to live to a great age and to be able to assume human form on reaching one hundred, when they might appear in the guise of a priest or a woman. Possession by a fox (kitsune-tsuki) was a nervous disorder once common in Japan. The person possessed hears and understands everything that the fox inside says, or thinks, and the two often engage in a loud and violent dispute, the fox speaking in a voice altogether different from that of the individual. The spirits of the dead ride upon foxes, and they are said to haunt graves; they are also responsible for the foxfire (kitsune-bi) or will-o’-the wisp.
Among kitsune, it is the white fox - messenger of Dakiniten, later identified with Inari, the deity of cereals and harvest - that holds particular importance. Countless shrines dedicated to Inari were erected across Japan, often flanked by pairs of fox statues, many depicted holding a pearl or a key in their mouths. Worshipers visited these shrines to pray for wealth and prosperity, figures such as the present example may have flanked the entrance of such a temple complex.
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Auction: Fine Japanese Art, 5th Dec, 2025
We're delighted to present Fine Japanese Art — a live auction featuring 600 exceptional lots that span every era of Japan’s rich artistic heritage.
The first 360 lots are featured in our printed catalog, beginning with Bronzes & Meiji metalwork, including a superb selection of silver works and notable pieces by celebrated masters such as Kitagawa Hokusen I and Jomi Eisuke II. These are followed by an outstanding group of samurai artworks, showcasing works by the Myochin family, intricate jizai okimono, exquisite tsuba from the Kotler Collection, and a distinguished array of armors, helmets, and swords. Learn more.
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