A SILVER HYOTTOKO MASK NETSUKEJapan, Meiji period (1868-1912)Depicting a Hyottoko mask, the lips pressed forward in a comical yet somewhat angry gesture, with bulging eyes and a wide nose, the reverse with an aperture which functions as a water-dropper, a mounting for suspension and a small hallmark.HEIGHT 3.5 cmCondition: Good condition, minor surface wear, light scratches and small dents.Provenance: French private collection. Ex-collection Richard R. Silverman, purchased from the Kyoto Handicraft Center, Kyoto, 1976. Richard R. Silverman (1932-2019) was a renowned Asian art collector with one of the largest private collections of netsuke outside of Japan. He lived in Tokyo between 1964 and 1979 and began to collect netsuke there in 1968. Since the 1970s, he wrote and lectured about netsuke and was an Asian art consultant for Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams. His gift of 226 ceramic netsuke to the Toledo Museum of Art constitutes perhaps the largest public collection of these miniature clay sculptures in the world. After moving to California, Silverman became a member of the Far Eastern Art Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1984. In 1993, he joined LACMA's Executive Board. He served on the board of directors for the International Society of Appraisers from 1986 to 1994 and served nine years as chair for the City of West Hollywood Fine Arts Commission. Richard Silverman was posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his decades-long promotion of Japanese culture.