Ivory netsuke with chokaro sennin

Early19th century

Height: 6 cm

Chokaro is one of the eight immortals of Taoism (hassen), a group of sages (sennin) originated in China during the 14th century. He was believed to have lived during the 8th century (he was already some centuries old), when he achieved fame by refusing to join the corrupt administration on the emperor Xuan-zong. Chokaro is depicted in a large Chinese tunic, with a flask made from a gourd that bears on his shoulder tied to a rope that holds in his left hand while his right hand is wrapped in the tunic. carrying a gourd from which he produced a magic mule that could, when required, carry him thousands of miles in a single day and then put it again in the gourd.

Netsuke for sale. Price on application. Please include item stock number: net-508