Shunga Netsuke of Two Lovers in a Kiss, Flowered Robes and Dressed Coiffures, Mammoth Tusk
Shunga Netsuke of Two Lovers in a Kiss, Flowered Robes and Dressed Coiffures, 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 | 4.6 cm | 1.8 in |
| Height | 3.3 cm | 1.3 in |
| Depth | 2.7 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
Kuchisui
Tender where its neighbours are exuberant. It is the most quietly composed of the couple groups and would suit a collector who prefers suggestion.
Best for: Collectors of Utamaro-style bijin 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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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 figures meet in a kiss, one kneeling over the other, their robes slipping from the shoulder in engraved drifts of flowers.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
The kiss is the centre of the composition and everything else radiates from it: two profiles touching, two elaborate coiffures with combs and pins, two pairs of hands. The upper figure wears a robe with large chrysanthemum heads in violet and green; the lower reclines on an opened garment lined in red.
From behind, the group resolves into a single kneeling form whose robe is engraved to the hem, and the underside shows the soles of small feet beside a red seal signature.
Iconography and Meaning
The kiss, kuchisui, appears in shunga far more often than in any public art of the period and was thought more intimate than the embrace itself. The matching coiffures suggest the world of the pleasure quarter, where attendants and courtesans were depicted together in the albums of Utamaro and Harunobu.
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: Katabori netsuke, carved in the round
- Subject: Two lovers kissing
- Material: Woolly mammoth tusk
- Technique: Hand carving, staining and ink engraving
- Colour: Ivory white with violet, green, red and black
- Length: 46 mm (1.8 in)
- Width: 27 mm (1.1 in)
- Height: 33 mm (1.3 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, two lovers in a kiss · mammoth tusk netsuke from Japan · ukiyo-e netsuke
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