88 - HAKURYU: A MASTERFUL AND VERY RARE KUROGAKI (BLACK PERSIMMON) WOOD NETSUKE OF A COW WITH ITS CALF

HAKURYU: A MASTERFUL AND VERY RARE KUROGAKI (BLACK PERSIMMON) WOOD NETSUKE OF A COW WITH ITS CALF By Unsho Hakuryu, signed Unsho Hakuryu 雲松 白龍 Japan, early 19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Superbly carved and remarkably naturalistic, the recumbent cow resting compactly with her legs tucked beneath her massive body, her calf nestled closely against her side and tenderly raising its head toward its mother. The cow turns toward the viewer with the idiosyncratic expression characteristic of Hakuryu, the tongue ever so slightly extended and the pupils pierced through to the pale, translucent horn eye inlays, lending the face remarkable animation. The gently curling horns are smoothly polished, contrasting with the finely incised coat, while the powerful body is sensitively modeled with the ridged spine, shoulder blades, and ribs subtly articulated beneath the surface. The calf is carved with equal refinement, its smaller form pressed intimately against that of its mother, while a finely braided tether is loosely draped across her back. The richly figured kurogaki wood is beautifully polished throughout, enhancing the sculptural contrasts and depth of the carving. Generously hollowed, asymmetrical himotoshi to the underside and signed within a polished reserve UNSHO HAKURYU. LENGTH 5 cm Provenance: The Dorothy Ann Stevens Collection of Fine Netsuke & Inro, formed between the 1940s and 1960s. Acquired from Norton on 6 July 1953. A copy of the corresponding entry in the collector’s register, recording the present lot as no. 223, accompanies the lot. Dorothy Ann Stevens was a collector of Japanese art active during the mid-twentieth century. The wife of the chemist, artist, and collector Henry Potter Stevens (1875–1965), she formed an extensive collection of netsuke, inro, and smoking accessories, with netsuke representing a particular focus of her collecting. Carefully documented and scholarly studied, the collection was maintained independently, with individual inventory numbers assigned to all her acquisitions. Many of these were purchased on the London art market during the 1940s and 1950s and included works with distinguished earlier provenances. Dorothy and Henry maintained closely related but distinct collections and occasionally exchanged objects between them, Henry's interests being particularly associated with inro and hers with netsuke. Preserved within the Stevens family for more than half a century, her collection constitutes a significant and well-documented record of the collecting and study of Japanese miniature arts in the mid-twentieth century. Condition: Excellent condition. Unsho Hakuryu was a carpenter in the service of Asano Naritaka (1817-1868), daimyo of Hiroshima. According to Alain Ducros, he initially trained under Mitani Goho and worked predominantly in wood, before turning increasingly to ivory after encountering Ohara Mitsuhiro around 1857. The present netsuke therefore belongs firmly to Hakuryu’s earlier phase and is especially rare: all other recorded examples of his cow-and-calf model are carved in ivory, making this the only known version in wood. Hakuryu did, however, carve single oxen in a variety of materials, including wood, ivory, and umimatsu. Literature comparison: Compare a related ivory netsuke of a recumbent ox by the same artist, signed Hakuryu, illustrated in Lazarnick, George (1981) Netsuke & Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures (LNIA), Vol. 1, p. 438. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related kurogaki netsuke of a recumbent ox by the same artist, signed Higashiyama Giondori Unsho Hakuryu, 5.4 cm long, at Bonhams, The Bluette H. Kirchhoff Collection of Netsuke and Sagemono, 16 September 2009, New York, lot 2006 (sold for USD 10,370 or approx. EUR 14,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).