207 - JOSUI: AN AMUSING JOBUN SCHOOL WOOD NETSUKE OF A MONKEY CARRYING A LARGE PEACH

JOSUI: AN AMUSING JOBUN SCHOOL WOOD NETSUKE OF A MONKEY CARRYING A LARGE PEACH By Josui, signed Josui 如水 Japan, Edo (Tokyo), late 18 th to early 19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Amusingly carved as a diminutive monkey almost disappearing beneath an enormous peach, crouching with both arms raised to brace the fruit while its face peers out from below. The peach is smoothly polished and naturalistically modeled, with a short trailing stem carved to the reverse. The deliberately top-heavy composition is ingeniously balanced so that the netsuke stands upright on the monkey's feet, amplifying the humor of the subject. Himotoshi to the reverse and signed JOSUI. The rare carver appears to have worked in close proximity to Jobun (see comparisons). HEIGHT 3.5 cm Provenance: The Dorothy Ann Stevens Collection of Fine Netsuke & Inro, formed between the 1940s and 1960s. Purchased at Glendining & Co, 17 June 1953, London, lot 114. A copy of the corresponding entry in the collector’s register, recording the present lot as no. 214, 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. Each acquisition was carefully documented, assigned an individual inventory number, and subjected to scholarly study. Many objects in the collection were acquired on the London art market during the 1940s and 1950s, including 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 during this period. Condition: Excellent condition with minor expected wear. Literature comparison: Compare a related boxwood netsuke of a monkey atop a puppy by the same artist, signed Josui, dated to the 19th century, illustrated in Christie's, Netsuke and Inro from an American Private Collection, Part III, 13 March 1985, lot 40, p. 10-11. Compare another related wood netsuke of a squatting samurai by the same artist, closely reminiscent of Jobun's carvings, signed Josui, dated to the early 19th century, illustrated in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part A, p. 266. Auction comparison: Compare a related wood netsuke of a reclining monkey by Jobun, signed Jobun, dated to the late 18th century, 5.6 cm long, at Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 8 November 2024, Vienna, lot 222 (sold for EUR 14,300).