A RARE IVORY NETSUKE OF THIRTEEN BLIND MEN WITH AN ELEPHANT BY CHIKUYOSAI TOMOCHIKA Katalognummer: NE1118-125 Ivory netsuke Japan, Kyoto early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: Illustrated in ‘Netsuke & Inro Artists and how to read their signatures’ by George Lazarnick, 1981, page 1149 Depicted is an old parable on truth and subjective interpretation. A group of blind men are touching and feeling an elephant for the first time and are trying to describe it. In the parable each man is feeling only one separate part of the elephant, such as the tusk, tail or side of the elephant. They then come together and discuss their version but find out that every man has a completely different view of what the elephant is, and they end up arguing and quarrelling, as they suspect dishonesty from the other men. It is an allusion to humans interpreting limited subjective experiences as absolute truths, and sometimes even violently defending them. In this present netsuke there are thirteen minutely carved tiny blind men all over the elephant – there are three on each side, one feeling the tail, one touching each tusk and four on top of him. The comparatively huge elephant is well-carved, particularly the folds of his skin, and has a powerful expression. Signed underneath on the base, next to a large and singular himotoshi, Tamekazu zu CHIKUYOSAI with seal TOMOCHIKA (carved after a painting by Tamekazu by Chikuyosai Tomochika) HEIGHT 3.2 CM, LENGTH 3.8 CM Condition: Good condition; fine patina and age cracks Provenance: Collection of Sam Felton with CITES permit no. 18US59513C/9. Purchased from Bernard Hurtig on 5th May 1978 (old invoice available). Literature: Compare to another netsuke by Chikuyosai Tomochika in the Baur collection, Marie-Therese Coullery and Martin S. Newstead, Geneve, 1977, page 374, C 1194. Compare to a similar netsuke in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, accession number 10.211.900 (also on the cover of the publication Netsuke: Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Auction comparison: A netsuke with the same motif in wood was sold at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, London, 16 May 2013, lot 123. Schätzpreis 估價: € 2.000 Startpreis 起拍價: € 1.000 -
A RARE IVORY NETSUKE OF THIRTEEN BLIND MEN WITH AN ELEPHANT BY CHIKUYOSAI TOMOCHIKA Katalognummer: NE1118-125 Ivory netsuke Japan, Kyoto early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: Illustrated in ‘Netsuke & Inro Artists and how to read their signatures’ by George Lazarnick, 1981, page 1149 Depicted is an old parable on truth and subjective interpretation. A group of blind men are touching and feeling an elephant for the first time and are trying to describe it. In the parable each man is feeling only one separate part of the elephant, such as the tusk, tail or side of the elephant. They then come together and discuss their version but find out that every man has a completely different view of what the elephant is, and they end up arguing and quarrelling, as they suspect dishonesty from the other men. It is an allusion to humans interpreting limited subjective experiences as absolute truths, and sometimes even violently defending them. In this present netsuke there are thirteen minutely carved tiny blind men all over the elephant – there are three on each side, one feeling the tail, one touching each tusk and four on top of him. The comparatively huge elephant is well-carved, particularly the folds of his skin, and has a powerful expression. Signed underneath on the base, next to a large and singular himotoshi, Tamekazu zu CHIKUYOSAI with seal TOMOCHIKA (carved after a painting by Tamekazu by Chikuyosai Tomochika) HEIGHT 3.2 CM, LENGTH 3.8 CM Condition: Good condition; fine patina and age cracks Provenance: Collection of Sam Felton with CITES permit no. 18US59513C/9. Purchased from Bernard Hurtig on 5th May 1978 (old invoice available). Literature: Compare to another netsuke by Chikuyosai Tomochika in the Baur collection, Marie-Therese Coullery and Martin S. Newstead, Geneve, 1977, page 374, C 1194. Compare to a similar netsuke in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, accession number 10.211.900 (also on the cover of the publication Netsuke: Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Auction comparison: A netsuke with the same motif in wood was sold at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, London, 16 May 2013, lot 123. Schätzpreis 估價: € 2.000 Startpreis 起拍價: € 1.000 -
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