A JAPANESE WOOD NETSUKE EDO 1603-1868 Carved as Kan'u riding his horse

A JAPANESE WOOD NETSUKE

EDO 1603-1868

Carved as Kan'u riding his horse, the Chinese general with inlaid eyes and stroking his pointed beard, wearing long robes and holding a guandao war sword decorated with a dragon's head, the horse with its head lowered, unsigned, 8.5cm.

Provenance: purchased from Sydney L. Moss Ltd, by repute.

Kan'u (d.220) or Guan Yu in Chinese was a famous general in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He is known as the epitome of Confucian virtue, loyalty and righteousness and was deified in the 6th century.