A CARVED WOOD MODEL OF A SNAKE AND SKULL
Lot 59

A CARVED WOOD MODEL OF A SNAKE AND SKULL

MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED DAI NIHON SUKEYUKI (IZUMI SUKEYUKI; 1838-1920)

Fermé18 April 2018

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USD 11,875

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A CARVED WOOD MODEL OF A SNAKE AND SKULL
MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED DAI NIHON SUKEYUKI (IZUMI SUKEYUKI; 1838-1920)
Realistically carved in single-block technique (ichiboku-zukuri) as a skull with a snake entwined around it, the details finely carved and incised, the snake applied with a movable tongue, signature on reverse side
4 in. (10.2 cm.) high

Note du spécialiste

Weathered skulls are emblematic of the evanescence of life, a memento mori that fascinated an artist steeped in the culture of Zen Buddhism. This subject was often called nozarashi and especially favored by the samurai class as they were meant to be prepared for death at any time.
Izumi Sukeyuki lived in the town of Bamba in Omi province; present day Shiga Prefecture. He was a master carver of family Buddhist altars and on a visit to Hida-Takayama, he was impressed by the work of Sukemizu, who carved models and netsuke, and he then decided to begin carving similar works. Sukeyuki was good at carving skull, snake and toad and he won a prize at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago in 1893.