ASAKUSA SCHOOL (founded c.1870) - Receive artist alerts » - More items from this artist »

Unsigned

21.30cm high    (  8.39 inches high)

Compare with a sashi-netsuke of a Kappa's ghost in our catalogue "More Things in Heaven and Earth", 2006, no. 84

Good condition

Carved from an irregular piece of antler, the shape has suggested to the artist a mythical Kappa clutching in front of it a cucumber, its favourite food. Its tonsured hair is rendered by a ring of the stag's hair which remains attached to the base of the antler. The eyes are inlaid in gilt copper wrapped around dark horn pupils. In the hollow crown of the head is a loose insert of antler topped with a pool of lead to suggest the vital fluid which resides there. The loose plug is held in place by a cord running through a hole in the nape of the neck.