Shunga Netsuke of Lovers, Man in Crest-Patterned Robe, Ink-Engraved Back and Red Cushion, Mammoth Tusk
Shunga Netsuke of Lovers, Man in Crest-Patterned Robe, Ink-Engraved Back and Red Cushion, 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 $454, 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 | 4.3 cm | 1.7 in |
| Height | 3.0 cm | 1.2 in |
| Depth | 3.0 cm | 1.2 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
Someone at the Door
Humour is the least understood quality of shunga outside Japan and the one Edo viewers valued most. This is a laughing picture in the literal sense.
Best for: Collectors who prize expression and narrative in netsuke
Condition notes
Light marks of handling and age. 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 wide-eyed couple caught mid-embrace on a red cushion, he in a dark robe scattered with family crests, she with her coiffure coming undone.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Expression is the pleasure of this group. The woman's mouth is open in surprise and the man looks out over her shoulder with comic alarm, as if a screen had just slid open. Their robes are worked in a darker palette than the other couples in the cabinet, brown and grey with small circular crests, set off by the vermilion of the cushion.
The reverse shows a densely ink-engraved back and the base carries roundels and a red seal signature.
Iconography and Meaning
Interrupted lovers are a stock comedy of the ukiyo-e album, where a maid, a cat or a jealous rival is always at the door. Crests on a man's robe mark him as a person of standing, which sharpens the joke.
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: Startled lovers on a red cushion
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with brown, grey and vermilion
- Length: 43 mm (1.7 in)
- Width: 30 mm (1.2 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
- Light marks of handling and age are present; the Desk will send close photographs of any area on request.
- Staining and ink engraving are bright, and the polish is even.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade B (good, light wear) 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
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: shunga netsuke, lovers on a red cushion · mammoth tusk netsuke from Japan · ukiyo-e netsuke
Chosen for you