NETSUKE: SHOKURO AND RAIDEN; IVORY
1800

Shokuro an astute wholesaler; promised to catch Raiden to prevent excessively strong storms. His plan was to attach a navel to a kite and fly it during a storm. Raiden being fond of nice tempting navel spounced upon the bait and was caught. Even today a saying still exists in Japan: 'when a storm is coming; girls cover your navels. So this netsuke represents a quite unique story. Ivory well carved and engraved; covered with a dark patination; which is partly gone due to heavy wear. Good; glossy patina. Ca. 1800. Both previous owners; the collectors Behrens and Hindson saw in this suzbject olny an unusual version of Oni and Shoki; however Dr. Schwarz through his contacts in Japan was able to identify the true meaning of this netsuke.Art trade; Van Ham.