7th Nov, 2025 13:00
Fine Netsuke & Sagemono
61
KIKUGAWA: A LEATHER TABAKO-IRE (POUCH) WITH A SUPERB DRAGON GOLD AND SILVER KANAMONO (POUCH CLASP)
Sold for €4,680
including Buyer's Premium
The kanamono by a member of the Kikugawa family, signed Kikugawa 菊川
Japan, Tokyo, Meiji period (1868-1912)
Finely crafted from dark brown leather, the pouch is fitted with an exceptionally cast gold and silver kanamono (clasp) depicting a fierce dragon in high relief, each scale crisply worked. The head - with sharp horns and open jaws - conveys great vitality as the sinuous body coils across the clasp. The reverse of the kanamono is masterfully worked in relief and engraved with scrolling clouds and signed KIKUGAWA. Suspending the pouch is a finely worked mixed-metal ojime, in copper, gold, silver, and iro-e takazogan, decorated with crabs, signed KOMIN, together with a simple manju netsuke.
LENGTH 12.7 cm
Provenance: Collection Prof. Dr. Henk C. Hoogsteden, Rotterdam. With an old German auction description to the interior.
Condition: The pouch with typical wear and losses. The kanamono in excellent condition with only very minor wear.
The Kikugawa name is associated with a distinguished line of metalworkers active in Edo (Tokyo) from the late Edo through the Meiji period. The earliest documented member, Kikugawa Masatsune, is recorded in Soken Kisho (1781) as a Tokyo artisan specializing in metal fittings. The family was connected with the Omori school, renowned for their dynamic designs and chiseling techniques, particularly in depictions of dragons, waves, and mythological creatures. Later generations of Kikugawa artists continued to flourish during the Meiji era, adapting their skills to the changing market while maintaining the family’s reputation for meticulous detail and high-relief modeling.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related leather tabako-ire with a copper, shakudo and gold kanamono depicting Nitta No Shiro Tadatsune killing a boar, signed Kikugawa, illustrated in Lazarnick, George (1981) Netsuke & Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures, vol. 1, p. 618.
Museum comparison:
Compare with the famous silver netsuke of a turtle, signed Kikugawa, in the British Museum, registration no. HG.291. While a netsuke rather than a tabako-ire, this example provides an instructive point of comparison for the Kikugawa signature and the family’s refined chiseling technique.
Auction comparison
Compare a closely related tabako-ire set with a dragon kanamono, unsigned, at Zacke, Asian Art Discoveries, 18 November 2021, Vienna, lot 309 (sold for EUR 3,900).
The kanamono by a member of the Kikugawa family, signed Kikugawa 菊川
Japan, Tokyo, Meiji period (1868-1912)
Finely crafted from dark brown leather, the pouch is fitted with an exceptionally cast gold and silver kanamono (clasp) depicting a fierce dragon in high relief, each scale crisply worked. The head - with sharp horns and open jaws - conveys great vitality as the sinuous body coils across the clasp. The reverse of the kanamono is masterfully worked in relief and engraved with scrolling clouds and signed KIKUGAWA. Suspending the pouch is a finely worked mixed-metal ojime, in copper, gold, silver, and iro-e takazogan, decorated with crabs, signed KOMIN, together with a simple manju netsuke.
LENGTH 12.7 cm
Provenance: Collection Prof. Dr. Henk C. Hoogsteden, Rotterdam. With an old German auction description to the interior.
Condition: The pouch with typical wear and losses. The kanamono in excellent condition with only very minor wear.
The Kikugawa name is associated with a distinguished line of metalworkers active in Edo (Tokyo) from the late Edo through the Meiji period. The earliest documented member, Kikugawa Masatsune, is recorded in Soken Kisho (1781) as a Tokyo artisan specializing in metal fittings. The family was connected with the Omori school, renowned for their dynamic designs and chiseling techniques, particularly in depictions of dragons, waves, and mythological creatures. Later generations of Kikugawa artists continued to flourish during the Meiji era, adapting their skills to the changing market while maintaining the family’s reputation for meticulous detail and high-relief modeling.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related leather tabako-ire with a copper, shakudo and gold kanamono depicting Nitta No Shiro Tadatsune killing a boar, signed Kikugawa, illustrated in Lazarnick, George (1981) Netsuke & Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures, vol. 1, p. 618.
Museum comparison:
Compare with the famous silver netsuke of a turtle, signed Kikugawa, in the British Museum, registration no. HG.291. While a netsuke rather than a tabako-ire, this example provides an instructive point of comparison for the Kikugawa signature and the family’s refined chiseling technique.
Auction comparison
Compare a closely related tabako-ire set with a dragon kanamono, unsigned, at Zacke, Asian Art Discoveries, 18 November 2021, Vienna, lot 309 (sold for EUR 3,900).
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