3rd May, 2024 13:00
Fine Netsuke & Sagemono
223
GUY SHAW: OWL
Sold for €5,850
including Buyer's Premium
By Guy Shaw (1951-2003), signed with the artist's initial GS
England, 1992
Published: Edition Zacke, Wolfmar Zacken (1993) Japanische Meisterwerke der Netsuke Kunst, pp. 65-66, no. 106.
Carved from highly polished fossilized Alaskan coral. A masterful and lively depiction of an owl, captured with remarkable sensitivity, sitting on a gnarled section of densely intertwined mangrove roots. The nocturnal bird stands tall despite camouflaging into its surroundings, its large umimatsu-inlaid eyes alert in search of prey. The natural undulation of this beautiful material permitting the owl’s plumage to shine through. Natural himotoshi through the gnarled roots and signed to the back in a raised oval reserve with the artist’s initials GS.
HEIGHT 7.3 cm
Condition: Excellent condition.
Provenance: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, Japanische Meisterwerke der Netsuke Kunst - Ausstellung 1993, lot 106. Private collection of Heidi Haupt-Battaglia (1921-2019), Switzerland, acquired from the above on 16 May 1993. A copy of the collector’s notes, confirming the provenance above, stating a purchase price of CHF 5,900, (or approx. EUR 7,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), and noting the official price as CHF 7,200, accompanies this lot. The same note charmingly notes that Guy Shaw fondly remembered Ms. Haupt-Battaglia as his first customer and one who bought three netsuke from him.
On the subject of the present lot, Guy Shaw notes that he was particularly preoccupied by the movement of the crippled branch on which the owl sits. In fact, he works on this contrast in a particularly accentuated way, emphasizing the owl even more by raising it upwards like a rigid sculpture. His choice of material, intentional, "the remarkable structure seems to be feathery inside and in certain lights it glows with a pale blue, something known to gemologists as "chatoyancy" (a kind of opalescence) ... All in all a very mysterious material for a very mysterious bird!"
Guy Shaw (1951-2003) was one of Britain’s finest netsuke carvers. Shaw attended the Bournemouth College of Art and sometime after graduation was introduced to netsuke via the collection of his landlord, Francis Dinley. Netsuke carving attempts a visual replication of nature, place and time, and it was in this field that Shaw, with his lifelong love of the wild, found his vocation.
By Guy Shaw (1951-2003), signed with the artist's initial GS
England, 1992
Published: Edition Zacke, Wolfmar Zacken (1993) Japanische Meisterwerke der Netsuke Kunst, pp. 65-66, no. 106.
Carved from highly polished fossilized Alaskan coral. A masterful and lively depiction of an owl, captured with remarkable sensitivity, sitting on a gnarled section of densely intertwined mangrove roots. The nocturnal bird stands tall despite camouflaging into its surroundings, its large umimatsu-inlaid eyes alert in search of prey. The natural undulation of this beautiful material permitting the owl’s plumage to shine through. Natural himotoshi through the gnarled roots and signed to the back in a raised oval reserve with the artist’s initials GS.
HEIGHT 7.3 cm
Condition: Excellent condition.
Provenance: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, Japanische Meisterwerke der Netsuke Kunst - Ausstellung 1993, lot 106. Private collection of Heidi Haupt-Battaglia (1921-2019), Switzerland, acquired from the above on 16 May 1993. A copy of the collector’s notes, confirming the provenance above, stating a purchase price of CHF 5,900, (or approx. EUR 7,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), and noting the official price as CHF 7,200, accompanies this lot. The same note charmingly notes that Guy Shaw fondly remembered Ms. Haupt-Battaglia as his first customer and one who bought three netsuke from him.
On the subject of the present lot, Guy Shaw notes that he was particularly preoccupied by the movement of the crippled branch on which the owl sits. In fact, he works on this contrast in a particularly accentuated way, emphasizing the owl even more by raising it upwards like a rigid sculpture. His choice of material, intentional, "the remarkable structure seems to be feathery inside and in certain lights it glows with a pale blue, something known to gemologists as "chatoyancy" (a kind of opalescence) ... All in all a very mysterious material for a very mysterious bird!"
Guy Shaw (1951-2003) was one of Britain’s finest netsuke carvers. Shaw attended the Bournemouth College of Art and sometime after graduation was introduced to netsuke via the collection of his landlord, Francis Dinley. Netsuke carving attempts a visual replication of nature, place and time, and it was in this field that Shaw, with his lifelong love of the wild, found his vocation.
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