Beschreibung:

By Hojusai, signed Hojusai 宝珠齋 with kakihan Japan, 19th century The plate with black, dark brown, and gold lacquer, depicting a rakan with typically long eyebrows, the ears with a long pendulous lobes and circular earrings, the face with an intense expression, the bowl covered in a light translucent lacquer coating heightening the grain of the wood. Central himotoshi through the back and cord attachment on the reverse of the lid. DIAMETER 4.2 cm Condition: Good condition, some old wear to the lacquer, a minor split to the rakan’s cheek, and a minor flake to his chin. Provenance: Richard R. Silverman, acquired from Eskenazi Ltd. in 1982. Two collector’s labels to the interior, one inscribed in Japanese. Richard R. Silverman (1932-2019) was a renowned Asian art collector with one of the largest private collections of netsuke outside of Japan. He lived in Tokyo between 1964 and 1979 and began to collect netsuke there in 1968. Since the 1970s, he wrote and lectured about netsuke and was an Asian art consultant for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams. His gift of 226 ceramic netsuke to the Toledo Museum of Art constitutes perhaps the largest public collection of these miniature clay sculptures in the world. After moving to California, Silverman became a member of the Far Eastern Art Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1984. In 1993, he joined LACMA’s Executive Board. He served on the board of directors for the International Society of Appraisers from 1986 to 1994 and served nine years as chair for the City of West Hollywood Fine Arts Commission. Richard Silverman was posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his decades-long promotion of Japanese culture. Literature comparison: A closely related kagamibuta netsuke by the same carver, but with a shunga depiction to the interior, is illustrated in Ducros, Alain (1994) Paris Edo, no. 29b. Note the translucent lacquer coating heightening the wood grain, which is executed in the same manner in the present netsuke.