Shunga Netsuke of Lovers Cheek to Cheek, Great Chrysanthemum Robe, Mammoth Tusk
Shunga Netsuke of Lovers Cheek to Cheek, Great Chrysanthemum Robe, Mammoth Tusk
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- États-Unis · 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 $406, 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
- Resplendent 8.5 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 4.7 cm | 1.9 in |
| Height | 3.0 cm | 1.2 in |
| Depth | 2.8 cm | 1.1 in |
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Excellent
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
One Robe for Two
A happy carving. If one piece in the cabinet could stand on an open shelf with its back turned to the room, showing only flowers, it is this one.
Best for: Collectors who favour charm and bold textile design
Condition notes
No conspicuous marks recorded. Staining and ink engraving are bright, and the polish is even.
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
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All sales are final. Please read our refund policy before purchase.
Considered offers only. The Desk replies personally to figures made in good faith; those set far below the asking price receive no reply.
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Two smiling faces pressed cheek to cheek look straight out at the viewer, the lovers wrapped together inside a robe of oversized chrysanthemums.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Most couples in this genre look at one another. These look at us, and the effect is disarming, a portrait as much as a scene. Both heads are finely finished, hers with a high chignon and pins, his round and good-humoured.
The robe is the boldest in the cabinet: chrysanthemum heads the size of the figures' faces, engraved petal by petal and coloured green and red, carried right around the back and underneath, where a red seal signature is placed among the leaves.
Iconography and Meaning
The chrysanthemum is the flower of the ninth month and of long life, and a couple enclosed in a single robe is the old image of a shared bed, the tomone of classical poetry.
To the eye trained on European sculpture the appeal is immediate and a little startling: a complete composition, finished on every face including the one that rests on the table, in an object that weighs no more than a few coins. It was this union of intimacy and perfection that made the netsuke the emblem of Japonisme, and that keeps it at the centre of Western collections of Japanese art.
Details
- Type: Katabori netsuke, carved in the round
- Subject: Lovers cheek to cheek in one robe
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with green, red and black
- Length: 47 mm (1.9 in)
- Width: 28 mm (1.1 in)
- Height: 30 mm (1.2 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.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Further pieces of the kind are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and in the wider room of Netsuke, Sagemono and Inro.
Concierge
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Collectors also search: shunga netsuke, lovers cheek to cheek · mammoth tusk netsuke from Japan · ukiyo-e netsuke
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