A boxwood netsuke of a cat and a namazu. Late 19th century - image-1

Lot 593 Dα

A boxwood netsuke of a cat and a namazu. Late 19th century

Auktion 1092 - Übersicht Köln
09.06.2017, 18:00 - Netsuke und Sagemono
Schätzpreis: 800 € - 1.000 €
Ergebnis: 1.860 € (inkl. Aufgeld)
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A boxwood netsuke of a cat and a namazu. Late 19th century

The cat wearing a kimono sits next to a catfish (namazu), resting its arm on the namazu’s head and holding on to one of his long barbels. The eye pupils of the catfish of black glass. Inscribed Toyokazu.
Height 2.6 cm

The subject of a cat (neko) as a geisha sitting on dead catfish has been illustrated by Kawanabe Kyosai in his book “Kyosai donga” (1881) and in one of his sketch albums. It has been interpreted as an allusion to a geisha (in Japanese also called neko) who has ruined a high official. Here she is shown controlling the namazu/high official.

Provenienz

Kolodotschko Collection