A very rare 35’ elephant tusk carving depicting the Seven Lucky Gods, a collection of wealth bestowing deities that originated from a mixture of Shinto belief and Japanese folklore. The piece is remarkable for its size, the fact that the entire tusk has been used by the artist despite the expense of elephant ivory. In the case of netsuke, where only a small portion of ivory is carved in great detail, here we have a sharp contrast: over twenty-five inches of ivory is beautifully sculpted, a testament to extravagance and befitting a group of deities known to be solely concerned with enabling our desires. The piece is Japanese, signed, and originating from sometime in-between 1920 and 1940.

The Seven Lucky Gods occupy the center position of the tusk, flanked by two karako, perched in support as additional signs of luck. Each figure is painted, deep blues and reds dominate the scene, though there are browns, purples, and gold foil inlays. Gingko trees peak out behind the figures, colored a leafy green. The coloring and texture of the ivory itself is quite remarkable, immaculately smooth and shiny with a light golden patina. A truly beautiful piece of ivory that pays homage to its source, the elephant, by remaining whole. At some point in the pieces’ history, repairs were made to close the three major crack lines that inevitably appeared in the long tusk. The capped end shows where a few small chips in the ivory have been made and repaired. Luckily, the seven gods and their features are untouched by any damage. There is a cached signature in red on the end cap of the piece reading Seiushi, a Japanese carver of which there are no known records. The piece has been restored to fair condition.