A fine ivory netsuke

Description:

Japan, signed Gyokuunsai, 19th cent.
H. 2,4 cm, B. 5 cm
Karako at the water vessel (History of the Shiba Onkô), detailed carved in ivory. Signed on the base in a reserve.
From an old private collection Rhineland, collected before 1985, coll. no. 39 (with note 3/(19)76 Gross Wiesbaden) - The EU trade certificate for the sale of this lot is available
Shiba Onko was a famous statesman and historian of the Han dynasty. It is an episode from his childhood in which it is said that Shiba Onko and his companions were watching fish in a huge jar when one of them fell in. While the other playmates ran away screaming, leaving the child to drown, Shiba Onko used a stone to break the jar so that the water could drain away and freed his mate. This episode was a popular theme among artists of the Edo period as a parable of virtuous behaviour - Well preserved