Antique Japanese Wood Netsuke
Bakemono 化け物
Onyudo Obozu
Signed: Gyokuzan. Circa: early 20th century
H 1.5 in. (4cm), W 1.5 in. (4cm), D 1 in. (2.5cm)
Condition: excellent!
There were hundreds of fantastic demons and ghosts in Japanese folklore. Fox priest and Bakemono are goblins in a humanoid form capable of benevolent and malevolent actions. In this large boxwood carving, the grimacing Bakemono in a monk robe is identified as Onyudo, or Obozu, the Big Monk. He is holding a snake staff, with a large malicious smile baring two rows of sharp teeth, in addition to two bulging eyes, he has a large third-eye that could petrify people in one gaze. The close-grained netsuke is tactile and well preserved in chestnut brown; attributed to the late Meiji or Taisho eras, signed on one foot by Gyokuzan; who died in 1923 in the Taisho period.
Estimated Value $400
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text/call: 510-556-3555