AN IVORY NETSUKE WITH NARIHIRA CROSSING THE TAMAGAWA RIVER

AN IVORY NETSUKE WITH NARIHIRA CROSSING THE TAMAGAWA RIVER
Japan, 19th century

The netsuke depicts the noble poet Ariwara no Narihira (825-880) riding a horse with three young servants around, a wooden hat, the himotoshi on the base, signed 鶯里軒 (Ōriken, “The nightingale village workshop”) within a reserve on the base.

2,5 x 3,1 cm

Provenance: private collection in Rome.

The signature on the base corresponds to Rakumin Jitokusai, an artist active in Kyoto in the 19th century, a pupil of Rantei and specialized in the carving of netsuke with animals.
Two very similar netsuke - signed Rakumin - are registered in the Meinetzhagen Card Index; another is published in Neil Davey, Netsuke. A comprehensive study based on the M.T. Hindson Collection, London 1974, n. 305.
Published in the “International Netsuke Society Journal”, volume 42, n. 4, winter 2022.

* The netsuke comes with a CITES certificate.