NETSUKE: THIEF BEHIND FOLDING SCRREN.
Japan. Edo period. 19th c.

Ivory with finely engraved and dark accentuated details. Blind thief after bathing; only dressed in a loincloth (fundoshi); looking out from behind a folding screen with his loot. Height 2.5cm; width 4.9cm. Signed: Toshinaga; cf. MCI p. 932. Condition A/B.

Provenance:
-Collection H. Seymour Trower; ill. Joly; H.: Catalogue of the H. Seymour Trowe Collection; 1975; no. 854; panel XI.
-Colelction Karl M. Schwarz; ill. Netsuke Subjects Addendum; 2001; no. A 163.

Please note that objects made of ivory; rhinoceros horn and turtle shell; due to Cites regulations can only be sold within the European Community. At present the export in third countries is prohibited.
Art trade; Van Ham.