An ivory netsuke of a spotted cat on a namazu. Late 19th century - image-1

Lot 958 Dα

An ivory netsuke of a spotted cat on a namazu. Late 19th century

Auction 1044 - overview Cologne
06.12.2014, 10:30 - The Kolodotschko Collection of Netsuke, Japanese Art
Estimate: 800 € - 1.200 €
Result: 1.116 € (incl. premium)
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An ivory netsuke of a spotted cat on a namazu. Late 19th century

Dressed in a kimono tied with a wide belt the cat crouches on a catfish with upturned tail, holding the long whiskers like reigns.
Height 2.1 cm; length 4.6 cm

The netsuke is an unusual, three-dimensional version of a namazu-e (catfish picture). After 1877, such satirical representations became a fashion in illustrated newspapers. Instead of symbolising earthquakes, now the catfish stood for the “whiskered government officials, and cats with shamisen for the geishas who control them”. (Kitani 1985, quoted in Timothy Clark, The Art of Kawanabe Kyôsai, Demon of Painting, London 1993, pp. 155f.) Also compare an illustration of a cat on the back of a catfish drawn by kittens in “Kyôsai donga” (Kyôsai's idle drawings), 1881, reproduced in Clark 1993, p. 155.

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