Painted Clay Hotei Figure with a Hidden Shunga Scene Beneath, Black and Gold Robe, 27 cm Tsuchi Ningyo
Painted Clay Hotei Figure with a Hidden Shunga Scene Beneath, Black and Gold Robe, 27 cm Tsuchi Ningyo
- 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 $23, 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 7.2 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 27.0 cm | 10.6 in |
| Height | 15.0 cm | 5.9 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
Very Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
Fortune Has a Second Face
Hotei, god of contentment, lounges with his belly bare and his sack at his back, the picture of good cheer. Turn him over and a second story appears: a pair of lovers modelled in relief inside a leaf-shaped hollow, the folk joke of the hidden picture carried into clay.
Best for: Collectors of Japanese folk figures, Seven Lucky Gods and hidden shunga objects
Condition notes
No cracks or chips, as described. Some soiling and small areas of paint loss, notably a few white flecks on the black robe and light marks on the sack and crown.
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
Couldn't load pickup availability
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.
Examined in Tokyo, one price, insured to your door. How buying from Japonista works · Join the Circle, free
A laughing Hotei in painted clay, robed in black and gold and leaning on his pale blue sack, who tips over to reveal a pair of lovers modelled in relief in the hollow beneath.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Hotei is the most genial of the Seven Lucky Gods: the wandering monk of contentment, bald and broad, with a great bare belly and a cloth sack that never empties. Here he sits cross-legged and at ease, one hand raised, his robe slipped from his shoulders. The modelling is full of character, from the heavy brows and painted beard to the fine hair on his chest, and the black robe is worked with flowing gold scrollwork and bordered in red and ochre.
The figure keeps a secret. Its underside is hollowed into a green leaf-shaped frame, and inside it a couple lies together on a pink quilt: a beauty with a dressed coiffure and red hair ornament, and her partner in a blue robe patterned with white crosses. This is the ura-e, the hidden picture, a running joke of Japanese erotic art in which a god of good fortune, a doll or a sake cup shows a second, private face. Such figures were kept as bawdy good luck charms and shown to friends with a laugh.
Details
- Subject: Hotei, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, with his sack
- Form: Seated figure with a hidden scene modelled beneath
- Material: Painted clay (tsuchi ningyo), as described
- Width: About 27 cm (10.6 in)
- Depth: About 24 cm (9.4 in)
- Height: About 15 cm (5.9 in)
- Maker: Unsigned; no maker or date is claimed
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 1 cm (0.4 in).
Condition
- No cracks or chips.
- Some soiling and small areas of paint loss, including a few white flecks on the black robe; every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade B (very good, light wear) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as a painted clay folk figure; unsigned and undated, and no maker or age is claimed. Keep dry, out of direct sun, and dust gently with a soft brush.
Delivery from Japan
Wrapped by hand in Japan, double boxed with generous cushioning, 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 among our Japanese dolls.
Concierge
Searching for other lucky gods or folk figures with hidden scenes? Our Hunting Salon™ locates such pieces across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: Hotei shunga figure · hidden scene clay doll · ura-e lucky god okimono
Chosen for you