JOKO: A RARE TSUISHU (RED LACQUER) BUGAKU MASK NETSUKE OF GENJORAKUBy Joko, signed Joko 如光Japan, Tokyo, second half of 19th centuryWell carved with staring eyes beneath heavy eyebrows, the mouth wide open in a scream showing teeth, the pupils, brows, and mustache neatly incised, the reverse lacquered black save for the waisted himotoshi bar signed to one side JOKO.HEIGHT 4.6 cmCondition: Excellent condition with only very minor wear to lacquer. Provenance: Ex-collection Edward Wrangham. Bonhams, The Edward Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art Part I, 9 November 2010, London, lot 180. A Princely Collection, acquired from the above.In the Bugaku dance known as Genjoraku, a barbarian dances around a wooden model of a snake, rejoicing at having caught one of his favorite delicacies. Thought to have originated in India, this dance eventually was regarded as an auspicious dance to perform upon the return of an emperor to his palace, and thus was named Genjoraku, meaning ‘Return visit of a High Personage’. Performed as early as the Nara period, Genjkoraku developed as a companion to the Bato dance.Literature comparison: Compare a related tsuishu mask netsuke of an oni by Joko, dated late 19th century, illustrated in Davey, Neil K. / Tripp, Susan G. (1993) The Garrett Collection, p. 141, no. 105 (together with an inro and ojime), where the authors note that “[o]nly one other netsuke by Joko has been recorded, a red lacquer mask in the Brockhaus collection”.Auction comparison:Compare a related tsuishu maks netsuke from the same school, by Soyo, depicting Okame, at Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 29 October 2021, Vienna, lot 265 (sold for 5,056 EUR).