221 - Ɏ HOGYOKUSAI: AN IVORY MANJU NETSUKE OF A THIEF STEALING BAMBOO SHOOTS

Ɏ HOGYOKUSAI: AN IVORY MANJU NETSUKE OF A THIEF STEALING BAMBOO SHOOTS By Hogyokusai, signed Hogyokusai 鳳玉齋 Japan, Edo (Tokyo), mid-19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: 1. Bushell, Raymond (1975) Netsuke Familiar & Unfamiliar, p. 142, no. 288. 2. Mikamoto Hall Ginza Tokyo, An Exhibition of Netsuke from The Raymond Bushell Collection, 1-17 September 1979, p. 39, no. 95. 3. Lazarnick, George (1981) Netsuke & Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures, vol. 1, p. 476. Of circular form, the front finely carved in shishiaibori (sunken relief) with a gaunt thief crouching furtively as he steals a bamboo shoot, his limbs tightly drawn up and one hand firmly grasping the freshly cut prize. His angular profile and tense posture lend the scene a wonderfully clandestine character. The reverse is finely engraved with bamboo stalks, a bamboo shoot and a bundle of straw, the details picked out with sumi (ink). Himotoshi to the back and signed HOGYOKUSAI within a wavy reserve. DIAMETER 4.3 cm Provenance: Ex-collection Raymond and Frances Bushell. Thereafter in a French private collection. Condition: Good condition with minor expected wear, few light scratches, and a flaw to the material by the knee. As Raymond Bushell observed when publishing the present netsuke, the subject appears to be more than a farmer simply gathering bamboo shoots for his dinner. He identified the scantily clad figure as a kosodoro, or petty sneak thief and filcher of farm produce, noting the incongruity of his wearing only a fundoshi during the early bamboo-shoot season. Trade Certificate: The trade certificate for the sale of this lot within the EU has been granted (permit number FR2507515095-K). This item contains ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, and/or some types of tropical wood and is subject to CITES when exporting outside the EU. It is typically not possible to export such items outside of the EU, including to the UK. Therefore, after this item has the necessary trade certificate, it can only be shipped within the EU or picked up in our gallery in person.