A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-1
A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-2
A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-3
A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-4
A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-5
A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-1A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-2A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-3A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-4A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century - image-5

Lot 1109 Dα

A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century

Auction 1112 - overview Cologne
16.06.2018, 16:31 - The Papp Collection of Netsuke
Estimate: 2.200 € - 2.600 €

A narwhal tusk netsuke of a goat and a monkey. 18th century

Carved from the tip of the tusk, the goat sits with legs folded beneath, while a monkey on its back pulls the goat by its beard.
Height 4.3 cm

This type of animal is identified by Joly and Weber as a siniu (Jap. saigyu). However the present piece lacks the single horn and the flames emanating from its joints, which would firmly identify it as the mythological animal. Recently, Guido Schiller in “The Siniu Enigma” (INSJ, vol. 22, no. 3 [fall 2002], p. 26), has convincingly argued that this animal is a “Japanese adaptation of a Chinese seal in the shape of a goat.”
The combination of goat and monkey represents the hours from three to five in the morning and the afternoon. (cf. P. Jirka- Schmitz, The World of Netsuke, Stuttgart 2005, cat. no. 572)

Provenance

Purchased from Helmut Laudenbach, Berg, October 1979
The Papp Collection (no. 596)