By Kokei, signed Kokei 虎溪
Japan, Kuwana, Ise Province, circa 1810, Edo period (1615-1868)

Published:
Atchley, Virginia (1986), Kokei, Netsuke Kenkyukai Study Journal, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 12, fig. 5.
Sydney L. Moss Ltd. (1989) Japanese Netsuke: Serious Art. Outstanding Works Selected from American Collections, no. 32.

The ferocious feline seated with its tail snaking its way up to its protruding shoulder bones, the head turned back to the left as it affectionately licks the flank of the offspring who attempts to clamber over its back, altogether forming a compact composition. The wood bearing a lustrous patina and the characteristic stripes are stained and rendered with alternating finely etched and smoothly polished areas. Natural himotoshi and signed to the underside within a polished reserve KOKEI.

LENGTH 3.5 cm

Condition: Very good condition with minor wear. A tiny touchup to the tongue.
Provenance: H.J. and Bette Sherman, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Sotheby’s, Japanese and Korean Works of Art, 9 June 2004, London, lot 1178. The private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, New York, acquired from the above. Alan Hartman (1930-2023) was an influential American art dealer, who took over his parents’ antique business in Manhattan and established the legendary Rare Art Gallery on Madison Avenue, with further locations in Dallas and Palm Beach. His wife Simone (née Horowitz) already served as assistant manager of the New York gallery before the couple were married in 1975, and together they built a renowned collection for over half a century and became noted art patrons, enriching the collections of important museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (which opened the Alan and Simone Hartman Galleries in 2013) as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum in New York.

In Collector’s Netsuke, Raymond Bushell contends, tigers and goats must have held some personal significance for Kokei, as it is unreasonable to conclude that such an overwhelming proportion of his clientele was born in tiger and goat years. Further, the small size of Kokei’s netsuke was ideally suited for use with inro, whereas the bulkier works favored now were intended for use with tobacco paraphernalia. At the very best, even the ubiquitous tigers and goats have the comforting appeal of recognizable classics.

The present lot’s size and pose render it among the most successful of Kokei’s tiger netsuke.

Literature comparison:
For a closely related wood netsuke of a tigress licking her cub, signed Kokei, 3.5 cm, see Coullery, Marie-Therese / Newstead, Martin S. (1977) The Baur Collection, p. 351, C 1098.

Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related wood netsuke of a tiger and cub, by Kokei, late 18^th-early 19^th century, at Bonhams, Fine Netsuke from a French Private Collection, 4 November 2020, London, lot 48 (sold for GBP 5,312).