λ A JAPANESE BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF A MONKEY MEIJI 1868-1912 The primate depicted seated and...

λ A JAPANESE BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF A MONKEY

MEIJI 1868-1912

The primate depicted seated and examining a small hermit crab through a looking glass, his eyes inlaid with amber-coloured beads and with elements in ivory, signed Saijin (Talented Man) in a rectangular reserve underneath, 8cm.

Provenance: from the collection of W B Tapp (d.1992), Bristol.

C.f. F Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum, Part B, p.690, where the author mentions another comparable okimono of a monkey examining a sword bearing the same signature.