A stained ivory seated figure of a scholar


By Tokosai Tomotoshi, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centurySeated on the ground with his legs crossed, clad in typical Chinese robes and hat, wearing a pair of round spectacles, both hands outstretched, pontificating; his garments decorated with elaborate roundels with details added in sepia; signed on the base Tokosai Tomotoshi with a seal Tomotoshi. 12cm x 10.5cm (4¾in x 4 1/8in).
|Tokosai Tomotoshi is almost certainly the same artist as Kato Tomotoshi who participated in and received a prize at the second carving competition organised by the Tokyo Chokokai (The Tokyo Carver's Association) in 1889. (1) Notes:1. Shoto Museum of Art, Nihon no zoge bijutsu: Tokubetsuten: Meiji no zoge chokoku o chushin ni (History of Japanese Ivory Carving: Gebori-Okimono and Shibayama of Meiji period), Tokyo, 1996, p.233.