Untitled

Unknown

19th century · Ivory · Asian Art

This realistic design of autumn ivy, a common sight in Japan, is a motif that recalls the episode in Tales of lse (chapt. 9), in which the poet, traveling to the east along a dark and narrow route overgrown with ivy on Mount Utsu, crosses paths with a wandering ascetic returning to the capital to whom he entrusts a poem of love. The ivory netsuke represents a love letter on paper decorated with courtly designs of paulownia and symbols for the chapters of Genji used in incense games

Artist

Unknown

Date

19th century

Medium

Ivory

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Russell Sage, 1910