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Collections

Kikugawa Family
Octopus Grasping a Pearl Divermid-19th century

Not on view
Small ivory-toned netsuke sculpture of a crouching nude woman intertwined with an octopus, with inlaid glass eyes and ink-darkened carved details

Kikugawa Family, Octopus Grasping a Pearl Diver, mid-19th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Artist or Maker
Kikugawa Family
Japan, active 1844-1867
Title
Octopus Grasping a Pearl Diver
Place Made
Japan
Date Made
mid-19th century
Period
Edo period (1603-1868) or Meiji period (1868-1912)
Medium
Ivory with staining, sumi, red pigment
Dimensions
1 1/2 × 1 1/4 × 1 in. (3.81 × 3.18 × 2.54 cm)
Credit Line
Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection
Accession Number
M.91.250.62
Classification
Costumes
Collecting Area
Japanese Art
Selected Bibliography
  • Hurtig, Bernard. Masterpieces of Netsuke Art: One Thousand Favorites of Leading Collectors. New York: Weatherhill, 1973.
  • 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.
  • Catalog of an Exhibition of Netsuke from the Collection of Raymond Bushell. London: Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd., 1984.
  • Bushell, Raymond. An Exhibition of Netsuke from the Raymond Bushell Collection. Tokyo: Mikimoto World Jewelers, 1979.
  • Lazarnick, George. Netsuke and Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures, vol. 1. Honolulu: Reed Publishers, 1981.