HAKUHAKUSAI: AN AMUSING WALRUS TUSK RYUSA MANJU NETSUKE DEPICTING A STRETCHING DARUMA

HAKUHAKUSAI: AN AMUSING WALRUS TUSK RYUSA MANJU NETSUKE DEPICTING A STRETCHING DARUMA
By Hakuhakusai, signed Hakuhakusai 白々斎
Japan, Edo (Tokyo), mid-19
th
century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Of circular form, partly carved in openwork, poking fun at a yawning and stretching Daruma in front of iron bars – an allusion to a brothel window. The face is finely detailed with incised facial hair, hooped earrings, and sumi-stained chest hair. The reverse with an inscribed poem, 'Momo kuri sannen kaki hachinen, Daruma wa kyunen narikaneru' 桃栗三年柿八歳、達磨ハ九年成兼る ('Planted peach and chestnut trees take three years to bear fruit, persimmons take eight, and it took Daruma nine years [of facing the wall and meditating] to achieve enlightenment'). This humorous depiction of Daruma satirizes the enlightenment he achieved. The reverse with a single himotoshi, the cord attachment within. Signed on the back, HAKUHAKUSAI. The stained ivory has a rich yellow with a deep, honey-yellow hue.
DIAMETER 3.8 cm
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, some nibbling to the interior rim.
Provenance:
Tamenne Gallery, Brussels, 24 May 1968. Collection of Robert and Isabelle de Strycker, acquired from the above, and thence by descent in within the same family. Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) was a French engineer who specialized in metallurgy. He was a Stanford graduate, a professor at the University of Leuven, a director of the Institute of Metallurgy at the Université Catholique de Louvain, and one of the most influential members of the faculty of applied sciences. After World War II, he made large contributions to France's post-war recovery. Robert and his wife Isabelle (1915-2010) first encountered Asian art at the British Museum during a stay in London in the 1930s. Enamored with the style and beauty, they both decided to study and collect Japanese and Chinese works of art. In 1938, they eventually began to build their collection, buying from Belgian, Parisian, and English dealers. They kept close contact with the famous English collector Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977) and noted Czech collector and expert Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976).
This item contains ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, and/or some types of tropical wood and is subject to CITES when exporting outside the EU. It is typically not possible to export such items outside of the EU, including to the UK. Therefore, after this item has the necessary trade certificate, it can only be shipped within the EU or picked up in our gallery in person.