7th Nov, 2025 13:00
Fine Netsuke & Sagemono
63
GYOKUMIN: A MECHANICAL WOOD SAGEMONO SET
Sold for €7,800
including Buyer's Premium
By Gyokumin, signed Gyokumin 玉民
Japan, late 19th century
Published: International Netsuke Society Journal (2022), Vol 42, No. 1, p. 40, fig. 42.
A superb and rare sagemono set, comprising a tonkotsu (tobacco box), a mixed-metal ojime (cord fastener), and a mechanical netsuke.
The tonkotsu is finely carved as the head of a Sambaso dancer, surmounted by a tall hat inlaid with a central stylized crane crest amid scrolling clouds. The reverse shows various dancer’s accoutrements in the form of a folding fan and suzu bells. Ingeniously constructed, the back of the head is fitted with a lever that animates the figure when pressed: the double-inlaid eyes shift in expression and the tongue extends. The interior bears the signature GYOKUMIN within an inlaid reserve.
Suspended from the tonkotsu is a gilt-metal ojime in the form of a sho (mouth organ), together with a finely carved netsuke of another Sambaso dancer’s head, incorporating the same playful mechanical function to alter the eyes and tongue.
HEIGHT 13 cm (the tonkotsu)
HEIGHT 6.1 cm (the netsuke)
Provenance: The tonkotsu ex-collection Bluette H. Kirchoff. Bonhams, The Bluette H. Kirchoff Collection of Netsuke and Sagemono, 16 September 2009, New York, lot 2167. Ex-collection Collection of Dr Reinhard Lohrberg (1943-2024), Hanover, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with only very minor wear.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related mechanical tonkotsu of an owl by the same artist, the lever opening and shutting the eyes, signed Gyokumin, illustrated on the cover page in the International Netsuke Society Journal (1997), Vol. 17, No. 4 (cover).
By Gyokumin, signed Gyokumin 玉民
Japan, late 19th century
Published: International Netsuke Society Journal (2022), Vol 42, No. 1, p. 40, fig. 42.
A superb and rare sagemono set, comprising a tonkotsu (tobacco box), a mixed-metal ojime (cord fastener), and a mechanical netsuke.
The tonkotsu is finely carved as the head of a Sambaso dancer, surmounted by a tall hat inlaid with a central stylized crane crest amid scrolling clouds. The reverse shows various dancer’s accoutrements in the form of a folding fan and suzu bells. Ingeniously constructed, the back of the head is fitted with a lever that animates the figure when pressed: the double-inlaid eyes shift in expression and the tongue extends. The interior bears the signature GYOKUMIN within an inlaid reserve.
Suspended from the tonkotsu is a gilt-metal ojime in the form of a sho (mouth organ), together with a finely carved netsuke of another Sambaso dancer’s head, incorporating the same playful mechanical function to alter the eyes and tongue.
HEIGHT 13 cm (the tonkotsu)
HEIGHT 6.1 cm (the netsuke)
Provenance: The tonkotsu ex-collection Bluette H. Kirchoff. Bonhams, The Bluette H. Kirchoff Collection of Netsuke and Sagemono, 16 September 2009, New York, lot 2167. Ex-collection Collection of Dr Reinhard Lohrberg (1943-2024), Hanover, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with only very minor wear.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related mechanical tonkotsu of an owl by the same artist, the lever opening and shutting the eyes, signed Gyokumin, illustrated on the cover page in the International Netsuke Society Journal (1997), Vol. 17, No. 4 (cover).
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