137 - SUKENAGA: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF BENKEI INSIDE HORAGAI

SUKENAGA: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF BENKEI INSIDE HORAGAI By Matsuda Sukenaga (1800-1872), signed Sukenaga 亮長 Japan, Takayama, Hida province, mid-19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: Barry Davies Oriental Art (1995) 100 Selected Pieces from the Netsuke Collection of Scott Meredith, no. 107. Finely and humorously carved as the warrior monk Benkei emerging from within an enormous horagai conch while vigorously blowing a second, smaller shell held to his lips. His animated face is rendered with puffed cheeks, deeply furrowed brows, and an intense expression, framed by long locks falling over his shoulders. The voluminous sleeves of his robe billow outward and fold naturally around the aperture of the shell, cleverly integrating the figure with the oversized conch. Good himotoshi to the back and signed SUKENAGA within a sunken reserve. HEIGHT 5 cm Provenance: Ex-collection Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt. Sotheby’s, The Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt Collection of Netsuke, New York, 2 June 1992, lot 185. Ex-collection Scott Meredith, acquired from the above. With Barry Davies Ltd., London, September 1995. French private collection, acquired from the above. Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt III (1915–1991), grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, was an American intelligence officer and business executive, educated at Harvard and MIT, and later served in the CIA. A keen collector, he amassed an important collection of Japanese netsuke. Scott Meredith (1923–1993) was a prominent New York literary agent and the founder of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, representing celebrated authors including Norman Mailer, P. G. Wodehouse, Arthur C. Clarke, and Philip K. Dick. He was also a discerning collector of netsuke, assembling an important collection distinguished by its quality and breadth. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear along the edges and a tiny nick to the himotoshi. Matsuda Sukenaga (1800-1872) was one of the leading carvers of the Hida school and is particularly celebrated for his animal, reptile, and skull subjects, while figural netsuke are considerably rarer within his oeuvre. The present work appears to be the only recorded example by Sukenaga or his immediate followers depicting Benkei inside a horagai, making it an exceptional subject within the Hida tradition. Benkei, the legendary warrior monk and loyal companion of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, was frequently associated with the yamabushi, whose distinctive attributes included the horagai conch trumpet. The present design transforms this familiar attribute into an amusing visual conceit, with Benkei emerging from an enormous conch while simultaneously blowing a smaller one.