A FINE IVORY MANJU NETSUKE OF A SKY DRAGON ATTRIBUTED... Lot n° 14

Ivory manju netsuke Japan 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) A rather flat, circular manju netsuke showing a dragon with sharp horns and whirling barbels. The dragon is bearded, its mouth is opened, and it has a grim expression. It is holding the magical pearl zhu in its claws. Its scaled, serpentine body is surrounded by many clouds, mostly in a spiral shape with one cloud in the shape of the longevity mushroom reishi. The smoother underside shows the dragon’s long tail with flaming end, two cloud spirals form the himotoshi. DIAMETER 5.2 CM Condition: Excellent condition with a good patina Provenance: British private collection Literature: An almost identical piece, signed Okutaka, is illustrated in ‘Netsuke & Inro Artist and How to Read Their Signature’ by George Lazarnick, 1981, page 853.