Ojime Bead Carved as the Head of Kannon with Red Urna, Mammoth Tusk
Ojime Bead Carved as the Head of Kannon with Red Urna, Mammoth Tusk
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- Vereinigte Staaten · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $21, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Character
- QuietResplendent Balanced 5 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
Condition report
Excellent9.0 / 10
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
Lowered Eyes
A way to own a piece of real carving quality at an introductory level, or to complete an inro ensemble.
Best for: Collectors assembling inro, ojime and netsuke sets
Condition notes
No conspicuous marks recorded. Staining and ink engraving are bright, and the polish is even.
Assessed from photographs and descriptionReport dated 14 November 2026
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
Verfügbarkeit für Abholungen konnte nicht geladen werden
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A sliding bead under three centimetres high, carved as the serene head of Kannon with lowered eyes and a red dot at the brow.
The Piece
The ojime is the bead that tightens the cords between an inro and its netsuke. This one is worked as a small sculpture: the face smooth and inward, the hair drawn up in engraved strands beneath a veil, the urna, the mark of wisdom, inlaid in red. The cord hole runs vertically through the bead.
The reverse is plain and softly polished.
Iconography and Meaning
Kannon hears the cries of the world and is the most loved of all Buddhist figures in Japan. Carried on the cord of a medicine case, her image was a small act of protection.
The Japanese name for the pleasure such an object gives is te-zawari, the feel in the hand. A netsuke is meant to be turned, warmed and known by touch as much as by sight, and its surface will mellow with the years to the soft tone collectors call patina, the gentle beauty of use that the aesthetics of wabi and sabi hold dear.
Details
- Type: Ojime, cord bead
- Subject: Head of Kannon
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with brown and red
- Length: 15 mm (0.6 in)
- Width: 11 mm (0.4 in)
- Height: 28 mm (1.1 in)
- Period: Contemporary, in the classical tradition
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 1 to 2 mm.
Condition
- No conspicuous marks, chips or repairs are noted.
- Staining and ink engraving are bright, and the polish is even.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade A (excellent) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Carved by hand in Japan from the tusk of the woolly mammoth, an extinct species whose fossil tusk is not elephant ivory and is not listed under CITES. It is a contemporary work in the classical tradition, examined and photographed in Japan before dispatch. Rules on mammoth tusk differ between countries and, in the United States, between states; please confirm that it may be received at your address before you buy. Keep away from direct sun, dry heat and sudden changes of humidity, and handle with clean dry hands.
Delivery from Japan
Wrapped by hand in Japan in soft tissue and a rigid case, and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. More in Netsuke, Sagemono and Inro and Okimono, Figurines and Statues.
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