Antique Japanese Ivory Okimono
Bird Lover
Peasant Girl With Birds
Signed: Gyokuseki, Meiji, early 20th Century
Listed in Netsuke by Neil K. Davey Pub. Sotheby 1974
Netsuke by A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1905
H 6 in.(15cm), W 2 in.(5cm), D 1.5 in.(3.8cm)
Condition: Very Good

An outstanding Meiji era okimono in fine quality ivory from the center of the tusk, cream to gold patina with cool highlights; dense, finely striated and layered with gradations of tone, depicting a peasant girl; excellently carved with animated naturalness, extensively engraved with subtly colored embroideries and deeply draped and folded garments from which an abundant cluster of grapes is overflowing, capturing a moment of tender inquisitiveness, the girl cradling a bird; fine ink lines for the eyes and eyebrows; traces of red pigment on the lips. Glossy high hand finish, signature on the bottom: Gyokuseki.

Private Collection