A rare ivory slab netsuke


Edo period (1615-1868), 19th centuryOf irregular oval form, finely engraved in kebori with a lake scene, showing temples and other buildings on rocky promontories, sailing boats and fishermen on the water and two poems above extolling the beauty of the Ama-no-hashidate Bridge, one in delicate sosho script, the other in kanbun (classical Chinese), another poem on the reverse; inscribed Wataoka-shi. 8.2cm (3¼in) high.
|The work shows affinities with some of the work of Gansui of Iwami Province and of Ichimuken Nanka and Nanyo of Izumi Province. The engraved scene depicts the Ama-no-hashidate, a pine-clad sandbar which spans the mouth of Miyazu Bay in northern Kyoto Prefecture and is ranked as one of the most scenic views in Japan.