Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,
A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century
OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900
A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,
An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)
Ryoun: A SET OF SIX HIRADO PORCELAIN DISHES
A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700
A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,
A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,
A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,
A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,
TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,
A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century
A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,
ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,
EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,
SEVEN CERAMIC VESSELS AND A FIGURE Japan,
A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,
A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,
SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,
TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,
FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century
Previous Lot
Next Lot
A boxwood and metal netsuke of ants on vegetables By Jikan Ganbun, Kyoto and Edo, 19th century image 1
A boxwood and metal netsuke of ants on vegetables By Jikan Ganbun, Kyoto and Edo, 19th century image 2
A boxwood and metal netsuke of ants on vegetables By Jikan Ganbun, Kyoto and Edo, 19th century image 3
Lot 134*

A boxwood and metal netsuke of ants on vegetables
By Jikan Ganbun, Kyoto and Edo, 19th century

The Robert S. Huthart Collection of Iwami Netsuke: Part I
15 May 2019, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £3,812.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Japanese Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

A boxwood and metal netsuke of ants on vegetables

By Jikan Ganbun, Kyoto and Edo, 19th century
A large pumpkin with a mushroom, eggplant and cucumber resting at the sides, inlaid with three crawling ants in shakudo and shibuichi, signed on an inlaid ebony tablet Gyonen nanajusai Jikan Ganbun (Jikan Ganbun, aged seventy). 4.9cm (1 7/8in).

Footnotes

黄楊彫根付　野菜に蟻　銘 「行年七十才自侃眼文」　19世紀

Provenance:
Willard Collection.

Published:
Lazarnick, NIA, p.379.
Earle, Huthart, p.306, no.277.
Burditt, ICLS, p.39, fig.3.

Although for some years it has been recorded that Ganbun worked in Kyoto and Edo, he was at one time thought to have lived and worked in Iwami Province. He was an adept metalworker, renowned for his meticulous, lifelike miniature ants with which he inlaid his own carved netsuke, as well as adding to wood netsuke by other makers. The present example shows affinities with the work of Arima Tomonobu, who worked in Nagoya in the 19th century.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,
A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,
THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century
OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900
A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,
An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)
Ryoun: A SET OF SIX HIRADO PORCELAIN DISHES
A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700
A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,
A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,
A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,
A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,
TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,
A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century
A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,
ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,
EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,
SEVEN CERAMIC VESSELS AND A FIGURE Japan,
A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,
A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,
SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,
TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,
FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century