Stag antler netsuke of a gourd

19th century 

Length: 5.2 cm

Natural himotoshi

On one side, a sprout of the gourd itself decorates its surface, while on the other it is represented rotten through two holes carved in a naturalistic way that create the passage for the rope of the sagemono.

The iconography of the gourd comes from China; in fact in China the pronunciation of the term "gourd" is similar to that of the word "happiness and good luck". In particular, the variety of gourd which has the shape of a bottle, has a further meaning: the term "bottle" in Chinese sounds like "peace". The gourd also contains many seeds, and since is a climbing plant it is often associated with the idea of a prosperous lineage.

Netsuke for sale. Price on application. Please include item stock number: net-1701

Price band: within 5,000€