Shunga Netsuke after the Hana no Nishiki Handscroll Attributed to Korin, Embracing Lovers, Mammoth Tusk

Presented as drawn from Hana no Nishiki, the erotic handscroll associated with Ogata Korin: two lovers locked in an embrace on scarlet-lined bedding, wrapped in a robe of painted peonies.

This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.

The Piece

The woman faces us with her cheek pressed to her lover's shoulder and one hand raised to his neck, her expression drowsy and content, while he folds himself around her from behind. The whole group rises from a rumpled quilt whose lining is stained a deep vermilion, a red that flashes out from under the pale bodies and gives the carving its heat.

On the reverse the robe takes over. Peonies in orange and violet, scrolling leaves and a scatter of small blossoms are engraved across the back and continue over the base, where a red seal signature sits among the flowers. The quality of the faces, with their fine brows and tiny parted lips, is of the first order.

Iconography and Meaning

Korin is the great name of the Rinpa school, famous for irises and plum blossom on gold, and the scroll linked to him is admired for costume pattern as sumptuous as his screens. Whether or not the attribution of the original is secure, the carving honours its two virtues exactly: gorgeous textile design and the full, rounded beauty of the body, treated without coarseness.

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: Katabori netsuke, carved in the round
• Subject: Embracing lovers on red-lined bedding
• Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
• Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
• Colour: Ivory white with vermilion, orange, violet and black
• Length: 48 mm (1.9 in)
• Width: 28 mm (1.1 in)
• Height: 37 mm (1.5 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 recorded.
• 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.