Live Auction 13127Art of Japan
A Rare Ivory Netsuke of a Tiger and Two Cubs
Lot 3 The Tony & Johanna Oey Collection of Netsuke

A Rare Ivory Netsuke of a Tiger and Two Cubs

Signed Tomotada (Izumiya Tomotada, active circa 1781), Kyoto, Edo period (late 18th century)

Closed8 December 2016

Price Realised

GBP 42,500

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A Rare Ivory Netsuke of a Tiger and Two Cubs
Signed Tomotada (Izumiya Tomotada, active circa 1781), Kyoto, Edo period (late 18th century)
The tigress seated licking her raised paw, a cub lies scratching its chin at her feet, whilst the other nestles into her leg, the eyes with large eyebrows and expressive features, pupils inlaid in dark cow horn, the markings and hair details delicately incised and stained
4 cm. high

Specialist note

A model by Tomotada of a tigress with two cubs is rare, with the more usual model having only one cub.

For another example with two cubs see Joe Earle, Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture, (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2001), p. 288-289.

For examples with one cub see:
Bernard Hurtig, Masterpieces of Netsuke Art: One Thousand Favorites of Leading Collectors, (Tokyo and New York, 1973), p. 58, no. 163 Nihon Netsuke Kenkyukai ed.,
Netsuke: Condensed Culture of Edo, (Tokyo, 2005), p. 27, no. 16.