3rd Nov, 2023 13:00
Fine Netsuke & Sagemono
127
Ɏ A RARE TALL IVORY NETSUKE OF A KOKYU PLAYER
Sold for €2,080
including Buyer's Premium
Unsigned
Japan, Osaka, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
The musician holding the kokyu in one hand and the accompanying horsehair strung bow in the other, clad in a kimono tied at the waist with an obi detailed with a geometric design, the smiling face with raised brows and full cheeks, the head covered with a headdress. The back with a generously excavated, angled himotoshi.
HEIGHT 9.1 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and traces of use. A few natural age cracks.
Provenance: From a German private collection. To the pad of the foot, an old collector’s number inscribed, ‘127.’
The kokyu is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. Horse tail hair is bound to make the hair for the bow. This hair is detachable; a cord is attached to the tip of the hair on the side of the hand; and the cord is tied to a small metallic ring attached to the wood part of the bow. Most of the bows of Kokyu that are used in the genre of Sangyoku (played in combination with Kokyu and two other Japanese instruments) are long, and bows with a hair length of seventy centimeters and a total length exceeding one meter are common. In addition, a large amount of hair is used, and it is a feature of the bows of this type to have the hair string attached at a moderate tension.
This charming depiction, full of character, is one which derives from a fairly prolific and thus far anonymous artist – or more likely workshop – in the late eighteenth century. The milky-white ivory and the concern with surface and line indicate they were based in or close to Osaka, and their figures are of medium rather than outsize scale and always smile.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related Osaka school ivory netsuke of a street vendor at Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 4th November 2022, Vienna, lot 8 (sold for EUR 8,596).
Trade Certificate: The trade certificate for the sale of this lot within the EU has been granted (permit number AT 23-B-0347).
Unsigned
Japan, Osaka, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
The musician holding the kokyu in one hand and the accompanying horsehair strung bow in the other, clad in a kimono tied at the waist with an obi detailed with a geometric design, the smiling face with raised brows and full cheeks, the head covered with a headdress. The back with a generously excavated, angled himotoshi.
HEIGHT 9.1 cm
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and traces of use. A few natural age cracks.
Provenance: From a German private collection. To the pad of the foot, an old collector’s number inscribed, ‘127.’
The kokyu is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. Horse tail hair is bound to make the hair for the bow. This hair is detachable; a cord is attached to the tip of the hair on the side of the hand; and the cord is tied to a small metallic ring attached to the wood part of the bow. Most of the bows of Kokyu that are used in the genre of Sangyoku (played in combination with Kokyu and two other Japanese instruments) are long, and bows with a hair length of seventy centimeters and a total length exceeding one meter are common. In addition, a large amount of hair is used, and it is a feature of the bows of this type to have the hair string attached at a moderate tension.
This charming depiction, full of character, is one which derives from a fairly prolific and thus far anonymous artist – or more likely workshop – in the late eighteenth century. The milky-white ivory and the concern with surface and line indicate they were based in or close to Osaka, and their figures are of medium rather than outsize scale and always smile.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related Osaka school ivory netsuke of a street vendor at Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 4th November 2022, Vienna, lot 8 (sold for EUR 8,596).
Trade Certificate: The trade certificate for the sale of this lot within the EU has been granted (permit number AT 23-B-0347).
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