YOSHIKANE: A SUPERB TALL WOOD NETSUKE OF BASHIKO SENNIN

YOSHIKANE: A SUPERB TALL WOOD NETSUKE OF BASHIKO SENNIN
By Yoshikane, signed Yoshikane 美兼
Japan, Tokyo, late 19th century
The sennin dressed in an elaborately flowing, loosely fitted robe, with artemisia leaves carved in the back, a hyotan (double gourd) containing the elixir of life tied to his waist, reading from a scroll, his mouth agape dramatically, a sinuous dragon coiling outwards from within his robe and wrapping its scaly body around Bashiko, its head terminating on top of the sennin's head, one claw grabbing the gnarly staff to Bashiko's side. Asymmetrical himotoshi through the back. The details are exceptionally carved, and the wood is skilfully stained, the eyes of the sennin and dragon are inlays of dark horn. An inscription to the scroll reads 天下泰平、国家安 [peace reigns over the land, safe and security of the nation] next to the signature YOSHIKANE - a rarely encountered artist who worked in the style of Rokko.
HEIGHT 10.7 cm
Condition: Tiny chip to one of the dragon's dorsal spikes, the toes of the sennin with repairs. Otherwise excellent condition with minor expected wear.
The subject is quite rare in netsuke art and usually misidentified as Chinnan Sennin or Rakan Handaka Sonja, who are both usually depicted with alms bowls from which they conjure the dragon. Bashiko Sennin was a healer of animals who came upon a sick dragon and remedied the dragon's ailments with acupuncture. It is also possible that the present netsuke depicts Ryujin, the Dragon King of the Sea, depicted here in a sennin-like manner.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related wood netsuke by Yoshikane, depicting Gama sennin with toad, illustrated in Lazarnick, George (1981) Netsuke & Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures (LNIA), Vol. 2, p. 1232. Another wood netsuke by Yoshikane, depicting Chinnan sennin, is illustrated in Barry Davies Oriental Art (1996) Netsuke Through Three Centuries, pp. 80-81, no. 69.