Edo
Period Horn Manju Netsuke
Raging Rakan
Four Buddhist Masters
Signature: unsigned, early
19th Century
H
1.75 in.(4.5cm), W 1.75 in.(4.5cm), D 0.5 in.(1.25cm)
Condition: excellent! Antique
manju netsuke in natural dark color, with sunk relief carving of Rakan on a basket-
weave background. Fluidly carved, round and flat, burnished over time and with
a visible grain of parallel striations; one side showing a raging Rakan, the other
side with three faces bearing animated, distinctly different expressions. A work
exemplifying the Edo period, with its lively and eccentric handling of subjects.
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The
Gohyaku-Rakan are the five hundred disciples of Buddha who mastered the Dharma
but failed to attain Nirvana; therefore their human qualities prevail, endearing
them to followers of the Dharma. There are Gohyaku Rakans throughout Japan depicting
the five hundred Rakans in every possible mood and expression of humankind from
unconscious rage to perfect bliss. Therefore it is said that one can find one’s
own face among them without fail. This
manju is a reminder that even the wise can fall under the spell of the three poisons--Anger,
Delusion and Greed. The sage on the front has lost his equipoise and is flailing
his fists in rage. On the reverse the three faces symbolize Anger in the fierce
fangs of one head, Delusion as a laughing man, and Greed as a hungry ghost, all
of them woven tightly together as the reeds of a basket. The “Basket of Discipline”
is the oldest of the three sections of the Tipitaka (“Triple Basket”) given by
the Buddha.
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