Japanese Ivory Snuff Bottle with Carved Buddhist and Tengu Figures
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A finely carved Japanese ivory snuff bottle for export, late 19th/early 20th century, the ovoid-form, finely carved in deep undercut relief and visible traces of tinted polychrome, the neck with neatly striated petal lappets, and a scrolling ruyi-shaped-cloud pattern. A key-fret band to the foot rim, with matching incised domed stopper, signature to base, 6.5 cm high, the snuff bottle carved to one side with the depiction of an elderly Buddhist figure, (possibly Sarutahiko Okami) the Shinto deity guardian of the crossroads between heaven and earth. Here he is illustrated with an outstretched hand for calm, and holding prayer beads in his other, to protect a young boy below from the fierce eagle Tengu who is seen with large beak, emerging from the clouds above, to swoop down from overhead, to the reverse, the Shinto Priest from the Sacred text of Tengu seen here in the traditional manner, meditating under overhanging pine trees with his eyes closed, nestled amongst rockwork and beside a waterfall, a symbol of misogi (water purification, strength and guidance). Reference: Please see Christie's, New York, 19 March 2008, Lot 234 for a very fine
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- Polychrome - Made or finished in many colours. For furniture, it is used to indicated a painted finish.
- Incised - A record of a name, date or inscription, or a decoration scratched into a surface, usually of a glass or ceramic item with a blunt instrument to make a coarse indentation. Compare with engraving where the surface is cut with a sharp instrument such as a metal needle or rotating tool to achieve a fine indentation.
- Ivory - Ivory is a hard white material that comes from the tusks of elephants, mammoth, walrus and boar, or from the teeth of hippopotamus and whales. The ivory from the African elephant is the most prized source of ivory. Although the mammoth is extinct, tusks are still being unearthed in Russia and offered for sale.
Ivory has been used since the earliest times as a material for sculpture of small items, both in Europe and the east, principally China and Japan.
In Asia ivory has been carved for netsuke, seals, okimono, card cases, fan supports, animals and other figures and even as carved tusks.
In the last 200 years in Europe ivory has been used to carve figures, for elaborate tankards, snuff boxes, cane handles, embroidery and sewing accessories, in jewellery and as inlay on furniture. Its more practical uses include being used for billiard balls, buttons, and a veneers on the top of piano keys.
The use and trade of elephant ivory have become controversial because they have contributed to Due to the decline in elephant populations because of the trade in ivory, the Asian elephant was placed on Appendix One of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in 1975, and in January 1990, the African elephant was similarly listed. Under Appendix One, international trade in Asian or African elephant ivory between member countries is forbidden. Unlike trade in elephant tusks, trade in mammoth tusks is legal.
Since the invention of plastics, there have been many attempts to create an artificial ivory
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