Shunga Netsuke of Reclining Lovers Asleep in Peony Robes, Long Low Form, Mammoth Tusk
Shunga Netsuke of Reclining Lovers Asleep in Peony Robes, Long Low Form, 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
- Ornate 8 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 6.2 cm | 2.4 in |
| Height | 2.4 cm | 0.9 in |
| Depth | 2.9 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
Before the Morning Bell
An image of rest. Its long outline also makes it one of the most comfortable carvings to hold.
Best for: Collectors of Harunobu-style lyric imagery
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 lovers lie stretched out side by side, half asleep, her head on his arm, under robes covered in red peonies.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
The form is long and low, just over six centimetres, like a figure on a handscroll. She faces outward with eyes closed and a faint smile, flowered pins still in her hair; he curls behind her. It is the gentlest image in the group, the moment after rather than the moment itself.
The robes are engraved with full peony blooms and trailing stems in red and green, and the back and base continue the pattern with a red seal signature.
Iconography and Meaning
The sleeping couple belongs to the poetic side of shunga, the kinuginu or morning-after parting sung in court verse since the Heian period. Its mood is closer to Harunobu than to the comic prints.
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: Reclining lovers asleep
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with red, green and black
- Length: 62 mm (2.4 in)
- Width: 29 mm (1.1 in)
- Height: 24 mm (0.9 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. 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, reclining lovers in peony robes · mammoth tusk netsuke from Japan · ukiyo-e netsuke
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