NAGAMICHI SHUZAN: A RARE SAISHIKI NETSUKE OF CHINNAN SENNIN By Nagamichi Shuzan, signed Shuzan Japan, Osaka, late 18th to early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: Östasiatiska Museet (1999) Netsuke, p. 31. Exhibited: Östasiatiska Museet, Sweden, Stockholm, 16 October 1999 – 9 January 2000. A dynamically crafted, expressively carved boxwood netsuke with applied polychrome pigments. Depicted is Chinnan Sennin in a dancing posture with one foot placed on the dragon he has conjured, the scaly serpentine body of the mythical being winding around the Sennin’s back. The applied polychrome pigments are worn. Large, asymmetrical himotoshi through the back and signed in tensho underneath the right leg SHUZAN 周山. HEIGHT 9 cm Condition: The end of the dragon’s tail has been lost a long time ago and is worn down and smooth. Expected losses to polychrome pigments. Provenance: Ex-collection Mrs. Gunvor Bjorkman with two old collection or inventory numbers ‘A 115’ and ‘G 741’. Literature comparison: A similar netsuke is shown in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part B, p. 801.