135 - A RARE GROUP OF TWO AINU WOOD IKUPASUY (PRAYER STICKS) AND AN AINU TOBACCO CONTAINER WITH PIPE HOLDER

A RARE GROUP OF TWO AINU WOOD IKUPASUY (PRAYER STICKS) AND AN AINU TOBACCO CONTAINER WITH PIPE HOLDER Japan, mid-19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Comprising two finely carved wood ikupasuy of elongated, tapering form, and a tobacco set. The first prayer stick is decorated with intricate crosshatched designs and three raised, cloud-shaped motifs, while the second is embellished with bands of incised geometric ornament and two applied relief elements. The slender wood pipe holder is similarly decorated with geometric and lozenge-shaped motifs, pierced with a large aperture for the pipe bowl, and attached by a cord with a variegated bead to a rectangular wood tonkotsu (tobacco container). LENGTH 8 cm (tonkotsu), LENGTH 38.5 cm (the largest ikupasuy) Provenance: From the collection of Ralph E. Phillips and Dorothy W. Phillips, acquired in Hokkaido in 1947, and thence by descent. Dorothy W. Phillips (1906-1977) was an American curator and art historian who served as assistant curator in the Egyptian Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1930 to 1948, and subsequently as curator of collections at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1958 to 1977. Her husband, Ralph E. Phillips, was an official of the Chase Manhattan Bank and served as deputy controller of the U.S. Far Eastern Command in Japan. Condition: Excellent condition with minor expected wear and light traces of use. The indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido are renowned for their distinctive woodcarving traditions, particularly the intricate geometric ornament adorning their ritual and everyday objects. Among their most sacred implements are the ikupasuy, used in libation ceremonies to offer sake and prayers to the kamuy (spiritual beings or deities). Regarded as intermediaries between humans and the spiritual world, these prayer sticks were traditionally carved by men, their distinctive patterns often bearing familial significance. Tobacco containers and pipe holders were likewise important personal possessions, frequently embellished with similar ornamental designs. Museum comparison: Compare a related wood ikupasuy, 30.5 cm long, in the University of Michigan Museum of Art, object number 1991/1.81. For a closely related Ainu tobacco container with an attached pierced wood pipe holder, compare an example in the Weltmuseum Wien, inventory numbers 37284. Auction comparison: Compare a related Ainu wood ikupasuy, dated to the mid-19th century, 32.5 cm long, offered together with a makiri dagger at Zacke, Fine Japanese Art, 5 December 2025, Vienna, lot 150 (sold for EUR 4,940).