Netsuke of a Yamabushi Mountain Ascetic with Staff and Portable Shrine Pack, Mammoth Tusk
Netsuke of a Yamabushi Mountain Ascetic with Staff and Portable Shrine Pack, Mammoth Tusk
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- United States · 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 $118, 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 7 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 2.5 cm | 1.0 in |
| Height | 5.2 cm | 2.0 in |
| Depth | 2.6 cm | 1.0 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
The Mountain Road
A fine character study with the vertical elegance of an eighteenth-century figure netsuke.
Best for: Collectors of religious and legendary figure subjects
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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A yamabushi, the wandering mountain ascetic, strides forward on his staff with a boxed shrine strapped to his back.
The Piece
He wears the small black cap and layered robes of his order, engraved and stained in brown, and leans on a long staff carved free of the figure. The pack on his back, the oi, is a framed chest carried on legs and is rendered with its lattice and fittings. The figure stands on a small round base.
A red seal signature is cut underneath.
Iconography and Meaning
Yamabushi follow Shugendo, the old religion of sacred mountains that blends Buddhism and Shinto, and were believed to gain powers through hardship. In legend and on the kabuki stage they are the disguise of the hero Yoshitsune and his loyal Benkei, and the companions of the tengu.
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: Standing yamabushi with staff
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with brown and black
- Length: 25 mm (1.0 in)
- Width: 26 mm (1.0 in)
- Height: 52 mm (2.0 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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