24th Jul, 2025 11:00
Three-Day Auction: Asian Art Discoveries
436
Ɏ CHOKUSAI: A FINE IVORY NETSUKE OF A WASP IN A GOURD
Sold for €3,120
including Buyer's Premium
By Miyagi Chokusai (born 1877), signed Chokusai 直齋 with kakihan
Japan, Tokyo, Meiji period (1868-1912)
A pleasingly tactile and compact ivory netsuke of a large gourd attached to a twisting stem, the front hollowed out to house a red-stained wasp eating through the gourd’s flesh. The back with two himotoshi next to a segment of curling vine and the neatly engraved signature CHOKUSAI and kakihan. The ivory is superbly polished and cleverly stained throughout.
HEIGHT 4.5 cm
Condition: Excellent condition.
Davey writes on Miyagi Chokusai, “a fine artist whose work is rarely encountered. It is invariably of ivory, stained and with intricate details”.
Literature comparison:
Fuld’s Netsuke and Ojime Index records only one further netsuke with a wasp. Compare a related ivory netsuke of a chestnut with a monkey and two wasps, by Chokusai, illustrated in Coullery, Marie-Therese / Newstead, Martin S. (1977) The Baur Collection, p. 293, no. C 881.
Trade Certificate: The trade certificate for the sale of this lot within the EU has been granted (permit number AT 24-B-0244).
By Miyagi Chokusai (born 1877), signed Chokusai 直齋 with kakihan
Japan, Tokyo, Meiji period (1868-1912)
A pleasingly tactile and compact ivory netsuke of a large gourd attached to a twisting stem, the front hollowed out to house a red-stained wasp eating through the gourd’s flesh. The back with two himotoshi next to a segment of curling vine and the neatly engraved signature CHOKUSAI and kakihan. The ivory is superbly polished and cleverly stained throughout.
HEIGHT 4.5 cm
Condition: Excellent condition.
Davey writes on Miyagi Chokusai, “a fine artist whose work is rarely encountered. It is invariably of ivory, stained and with intricate details”.
Literature comparison:
Fuld’s Netsuke and Ojime Index records only one further netsuke with a wasp. Compare a related ivory netsuke of a chestnut with a monkey and two wasps, by Chokusai, illustrated in Coullery, Marie-Therese / Newstead, Martin S. (1977) The Baur Collection, p. 293, no. C 881.
Trade Certificate: The trade certificate for the sale of this lot within the EU has been granted (permit number AT 24-B-0244).
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