Lot 153: An Outstanding Okimono Netsuke

Signed Komei (Ishikawa Komei of Tokyo, 1852-1913), Meiji Period (Late 19th Century) Katabori, ivory; a lively study of a chubby Japanese toddler dressed in a coat tied at the back in a large bow, sitting on the ground supporting his weight on his left hand, his right hand holding up a doll representing Daruma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, the himotoshi formed by a large and a small hole in the base on either side of part of the bow tying his coat, signed with incised and stained characters on the hem of the coat by his left foot Komei 1 7/8 x 1 9/16in. (4.6 x 3.9 cm.) NOTES For an example of a standard-sized figure of a child playing with the face handled in a very similar manner, by Yoshida Homei (a pupil of Komei), see Joe Earle, Splendors of Imperial Japan, Masterpieces of the Meiji Period from the Khalili Collection (London, 2002), cat. no. 276.