Lot 257
GROUP OF TEN NETSUKE Y
MEIJI PERIOD
Auction: 20 March 2018 at 11:00 GMT
Description
comprising: a cobra, signed Shozan; two toads on a lotus leaf, signed Shozan; two turtles at play, signed Shozan; four quails pecking a stalk of millet, signature illegible, possibly Shozan; a group of two turtles and two cobras, signature illegible, possibly Shozan; a toad perched on a turtle, signature illegible; a toad perched on a conch, signed Tomokazu; two toads on a lotus leaf, with tortoiseshell inlay, signed Shozan; a monkey crouching atop a turtle, signature illegible, possibly Shunzan; and a karakuri-netsuke of a cat hidden inside a vessel, signed Shozan (10)
Dimensions
largest 4.5cm long
Footnote
Provenance:
Private English collection.
Chinese ivory carving for the Japanese market
The netsuke in this group that are signed Shozan are likely to have been made by Song Shan, a workshop of ivory carvers known to be active in Canton in the 1930s and 1940s. Deeply influenced by the tradition of Canton ivory carving, they mainly worked for the Japanese market and produced a large volume of netsuke and okimono for export.