A tall wood netsuke of the God of Mount Shitsugozan


Early 19th centuryUnsigned. 14.5cm (5¾in) high.
|木彫根付　漆呉山神　無銘　19世紀前期Provenance: W. W. Winkworth collection.M. T. Hindson collection.Published: Mark Hindson, Collecting Netsuke, The Antique Collector, London, July, 1946.Mark Hindson, Early Netsuke Carvers and the Hawk-eyed Collector, The Connoisseur, London, November, 1965.Davey, MTH, p.385, no.1156.Katchen, N7, vol.2, p.377, no.K413.The grimacing man-faced creature standing with one hand on its hip as its turns to the right, its scaly body with flames licking up its legs and its long tail trailing to one side.The model is one that was made by Yoshimura Shuzan in painted wood, as illustrated in Inaba, SK, vol.7, pp.2-3, an example of which is illustrated in Earle, NFR, p.107, no.71. The model has hitherto been believed to be the Shokuin which was first mentioned in the Chinese publication Shan hai jing, although the description is somewhat more benign than the present example. The God of Mount Shitsugozan (Chinese, Qiwushan) is described as having the torso of a dragon, scaly humanoid arms, chicken claws and flames.For a very similar example, probably by the same hand, see Jirka-Shmitz, TRUMPF, pp.92-95.