193 - MASANAO: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF A MONKEY RIDING A TORTOISE

MASANAO: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF A MONKEY RIDING A TORTOISE By a member of the Masanao family, signed Masanao 正直 Japan, Yamada, Ise province, mid to late 19 th century Finely carved and stained, depicting a monkey seated atop a tortoise, its long limbs draped closely around the domed carapace as it peers intently ahead. The tortoise has retracted into its shell for safety, drawing its head and limbs close beneath the rim while cautiously peering outward. The monkey’s fur is finely incised throughout, contrasting with the smoothly polished face and hands, while the tortoise’s shell is neatly worked with deeply incised geometric panels and its wrinkled skin delicately textured. The pupils of both animals are inlaid. Himotoshi to the underside and signed MASANAO. LENGTH 5.3 cm Provenance: From an old private collection in Westphalia, Germany, acquired in the Dutch art trade around 1890, by repute. Condition: Excellent condition with only minor wear and some light traces of use to the himotoshi. The subject alludes to the well-known tale of the monkey and the jellyfish, in which the Dragon King Ryujin sends a sea-creature to obtain a monkey’s liver as a cure for his ailing consort. In one variant of the story, a turtle carries the monkey across the sea on its back, but the cunning animal discovers the plot and escapes before reaching the Dragon King’s palace. The present netsuke captures the episode before this deception is revealed, with the monkey perched confidently upon the tortoise, lending the compact composition a humorous narrative tension. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related wood netsuke of a monkey and turtle, signed Masanao, illustrated in Hurtig, Bernard (1973) Masterpieces of Netsuke Art: One Thousand Favorites of Leading Collectors, p. 107, no. 404. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related netsuke-sized wood okimono of a monkey sitting on a turtle, signed Masanao with kakihan, 6.7 cm high, at Bonhams, Japanese Works of Art, 19 September 2008, New York, lot 5040 (sold for USD 5,400 or approx. EUR 7,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). For a rendition of this model by Tomokazu, 4.2 cm long, see Bonhams, The James A. Rose Collection of Netsuke and Sagemono, 17 September 2013, New York, lot 2021 (sold for USD 16,250 or approx. EUR 20,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).