Ryusa-Style Openwork Manju Netsuke of Cherry Blossom, Pink-Stained Petals and Green Leaves, Mammoth Tusk
Ryusa-Style Openwork Manju Netsuke of Cherry Blossom, Pink-Stained Petals and Green Leaves, 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 $134, 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 | 4.0 cm | 1.6 in |
| Height | 3.9 cm | 1.5 in |
| Depth | 1.3 cm | 0.5 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
A Week in Spring
The most immediately pretty object in the collection and one of the most skilled. Thirteen millimetres deep, and almost all of it air.
Best for: Collectors of ryusa and manju netsuke and of sakura 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
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 disc of cherry blossom carved in pierced openwork, the petals stained pink and the leaves green, so fine that light falls through it.
The Piece
Ryusa is the name given to manju netsuke hollowed and pierced like lace, after the eighteenth-century carver credited with the style. Dozens of five-petalled flowers and tight buds overlap across the face, each with engraved stamens, held together by a network of leaves. The staining is delicate, strongest at the heart of each bloom.
The back is a smooth plate framed by a wreath of leaves with cord holes at the centre.
Iconography and Meaning
Cherry blossom is the flower of Japan and of mono no aware, the gentle sadness of things that pass: it is at its most beautiful in the week it falls. Worn on a sash at hanami, a netsuke like this was a seasonal ornament in the same spirit as a spring kimono.
Western collectors have sought carvings like this since the opening of Japan, and the great cabinets formed then, now in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert and the Metropolitan, set the taste that still governs the field: wit, finish, a subject with a story, and a form that is pleasing from every side. This piece answers on each count.
Details
- Type: Manju netsuke
- Subject: Cherry blossom in openwork
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with pink and green
- Length: 40 mm (1.6 in)
- Width: 13 mm (0.5 in)
- Height: 39 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 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.
Concierge
Looking for a particular subject, carver or companion piece? Our Hunting Salon™ locates it across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers it to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: ryusa-style openwork netsuke of cherry blossom · mammoth tusk netsuke from Japan · ryusa netsuke
Chosen for you