Exquisite carved wood Sennin Chinnan okimono Edo Period possibly 18th century

Exquisite carved wood Sennin Chinnan okimono Edo Period possibly 18th century

This is an exquisitely carved representation of an ascetic known in both Chinese and
Japanese cultures as Chinnan / Chennan Sennin 陳楠.

This ascetic was known to control a dragon that he keeps in his alms bowl and can summon
at any time.

In this beautiful carved piece, Sennin Chinnan has summoned the dragon and is depicted
grimacing as the dragon appears to have climbed onto his back and sunk its teeth into the
ascetic’s skull. This humorous take on the myth appears to show the dragon controlling the
ascetic rather than the other way round.

The amount of detail on both the dragon and ascetic is amazing with both having tiny semi precious stone inset eyes (polished agate). The colour is exquisite with a deep chocolate brown hue.

The mound base is an unusual feature and appears to represent a mountain with the occasional foliage carved around the side.

This wood ‘okimono’ has a two character signature inlaid on the underside of the base: Eiz-Sen.
The signature is carved into an ivory plaque and filled in with a red colour.

This delightful and rare work of art stands 24cm in height including the base.

We are unable to locate any other SIGNED wood okimono of this size, period and quality.

We have also not been able to identify any Edo period Okimono depicting Sennin Chinnan: only netsuke that appear on the market occasionally (shown in the examples above).

We have located dozens of late 19th/early 20th century carvings and they all have shallow, flat
Bases, none have agate inlaid eyes, are not as good quality in the carving and most of them are not signed.

There are several age related splits in the wood which adds authenticity to the piece as these splits are part of the ageing process, caused by the wood drying out over the centuries.

Okimono are Japanese decorative objects that originated in the Edo period (1603-1868) and are typically displayed in a tokonoma alcove or butsudan altar. The word okimono translates to “ornament for display; objet d’ art; decorative object”.

With the ban on the sale of ivory in many countries (most recently in the UK), the price of this type of high quality antique carving in wood will only go up in value in coming years.

Please note that the buyer will receive a copy of the auction catalogue page and a print out of the pre-sale notice from the auction house that both document that this item is exempt from the regulations on the sale of ivory due to the amount being less than 10% of the overall piece.

Please note that fully insured shipping is included for UK buyers.
Overseas buyers should request a shipping quote.