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Collections

Masatoshi (Nakamura Tokisada)
Benkei Reading "The Subscription List"January 1953

Not on view
Small ivory and mixed-media netsuke figure of a standing man in layered robes, holding a tablet, with finely carved facial features and engraved floral decoration on cream-colored skirt
Carved ivory and lacquer okimono figure shown from behind, depicting a standing figure in a dark brown robe with inlaid ivory crest designs and a small cartouche bearing red Japanese characters, over a cream-colored skirt with finely engraved floral patterns; elaborately styled black hair with a topknot is visible above the collar.
Ivory netsuke of a standing male figure in formal court robes, holding an unrolled scroll in one hand and prayer beads in the other; finely incised floral patterns on the lower garment, dark stained outer robe with textile-pattern detailing.
Artist or Maker
Masatoshi (Nakamura Tokisada)
Japan, Tokyo, 1915-2001
Title
Benkei Reading "The Subscription List"
Place Made
Japan
Date Made
January 1953
Period
Shōwa period (1926-1989)
Medium
Ivory with staining, sumi, red and gold pigments
Dimensions
2 × 1 1/4 × 1 in. (5.08 × 3.18 × 2.54 cm)
Credit Line
Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection
Accession Number
AC1998.249.207
Classification
Costumes
Collecting Area
Japanese Art
Selected Bibliography
  • Masatoshi and Raymond Bushell. The Art of Netsuke Carving. San Francisco: Kodansha International Ltd., 1981.
  • Goodall, Hollis, Virginia G. Atchley, Neil K. Davey, Christine Drosse, Sebastian Izzard, Odile Madden, and Robert T. Singer. The Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection of Netsuke: A Legacy at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Chicago: Art Media Resources, Inc.; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2003.
  • Bushell, Raymond. Masatoshi: Present Day Master Netsuke Carver in the Tokugawa Tradition. Tokyo: Mikimoto Pearl Co., 1982.
  • Komada, Makiko. Netsuke. Tokyo: Kadokawa, 2015.
  • Drosse, Christine. "Netsuke Basics from A to Z: I." International Netsuke Society Journal 29, no.3 (2009): 42-47.
  • Bushell, Raymond. "To Donate or Not to Donate." Impressions: the Journal of the Japanese Art Society of America 42, pt.2 (2021): 100-121.
Copyright
© artist or artist's estate