A RARE NANKI OTOKAYAMA GLAZED PORCELAIN NETSUKE OF A DRAGON AMONGST CLOUDSWith underglaze blue mark Nanki Otokayama 南紀男山Japan, 19th centuryWell potted as a ferocious horned dragon amid swirling clouds, the head and scales well detailed, the white ware covered with aubergine, turquoise, and transparent glazes, the underside further with underglaze blue around the himotoshi above the underglaze-blue four-character mark NANKI OTOKAYAMA.LENGTH 4.2 cm Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing irregularities.Nanki Otokoyama ware is a type of Japanese pottery originally from southern Kii Province, central Japan. It is also known generally as Otokoyama ware. The kiln was the largest pre-modern kiln in Kishu province (modern day Wakayama prefecture and part of Mie prefecture), originally opened as an official domain kiln of Wakayama clan. The management was transferred to a private hand in the mid-18th century until it was closed in 1878.Auction comparison: Compare a closely related Nanki Otokoyama blue-glazed pottery netsuke of a dragon amid clouds by Nanki Danzan, dated 19th century, at Sotheby’s, The Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt Collection of Netsuke, 2 June 1992, New York, lot 227 (part-lot).