By Seimin, signed Seimin 晴民
Japan, Iwashiro, c. 1850, Edo period (1615-1868)

A finely carved and attractively stained double-walnut with a design of The Queen Mother of the West, Seiobo, dressed in voluminous robes, wearing an ornate tiara, and holding a fan, a karako attendant handing her an immortality-granting peach. The carving is embellished with various stained inlays including antler, horn, mother-of-pearl, coral, and pewter. One of the himotoshi ringed in green-stained antler and signed to the back within a raised oval reserve SEIMIN.

LENGTH 5 cm

Condition: Good condition. Some typical losses to inlays with associated repairs. Some ‘natural flaws’ such as tiny pinholes and typical wear associated with kurumi netsuke.
Provenance: Collection of Robert and Isabelle de Strycker, and thence by descent in the same family. Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) was a French engineer who specialized in metallurgy. He was a Stanford graduate, a professor at the University of Leuven, a director of the Institute of Metallurgy at the Université Catholique de Louvain, and one of the most influential members of the faculty of applied sciences. After World War II, he made large contributions to France’s post-war recovery. Robert and his wife Isabelle (1915-2010) first encountered Asian art at the British Museum during a stay in London in the 1930s. Enamored with the style and beauty, they both decided to study and collect Japanese and Chinese works of art. In 1938, they eventually began to build their collection, buying from Belgian, Parisian, and English dealers. They kept close contact with the famous English collector Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977) and noted Czech collector and expert Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976).

Auction comparison:
Compare a related Kurumi netsuke, attributed to Seimin, at Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 29 October 2021, Vienna, lot 285 (sold for 1,896 EUR).